Curious Captivation
by JennaDiane
Summary: Nellie Vallencia (OC) is a investigator moving back to Mystic Falls and into a spare bedroom of Matt Donovan's empty house. When a necklace and a look alike of Stefan take a special interest in Nellie, the world that she thought she knew is no longer and she must now determine why she, and she alone, has captured the attention of the powerful Silas...
1. Return to the Falls

**Authors note: I previously posted this chapter with little symbols separating the scenes and hadn't realized that when I uploaded it, the symbols disappeared, so thank you to the review from HiddenSight48, I looked over it again and saw that they didn't transfer! No wonder it was more confusing than my normal stuff, XD. To others reading my story, it's not going to be exactly like the tv show seeing as I havn't seen it in awhile! But please, feel free to comment and give me suggestions on where you would like the story to go!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter One: Return to the Falls

"How long has it been Matty?!" Nellie wrapped her arms around Matt and squeezed out all the space that had been between them the past few years. Matt welcomed his seemingly long lost friend.

"Too long! Come on in! I have a room already made up for you upstairs…" Matt, the gentlemen that he was, grabbed Nellie's belongings and lugged them up the stairs, each step creaking along the way.

"Hey Matt, how old is this house?" Nellie loved places that told stories because each one was unique in it's own way and she had a feeling she would love the history of elusive Mystic Falls.

"I wish I knew, but it can't be that old," he turned to look down at her, slight confusion on his face, "I think…" He finished with a slight smile. Once to the top of the stairs, Nellie let her hand graze past the white washed support rails on the stairs to the decorative golden doorknob that she could soon call her own. Nellie was one of many who understood the life of a drifter and Matt's offer gave her a chance to really find out about her roots. Curiosity would be her downfall if anything else but she thought of it as a gift. She loved leaving no stone unturned. That's why she was good at her job (however new she may be at it, she was still one of the best). The eggshell colored door swung open with welcome and Nellie let the vision sink in. The room she had accepted over a crackling phone line was much better than she had previously expected; it was small (she liked the word cozy better), it had a cut-in seat by the window so she could read in daylight rather than a dim lamplight, an antique bookcase equipped with a rather odd looking selection of books, a white Victorian style bed frame with a matching bed stand that had only one drawer and an alarm clock atop, and a small closet with identical doorknobs to her room door.

"Matt this is…" she cut off as she walked in the room, light shining in perfectly, accenting the antique Victorian theme.

"Old, yeah I know, I havn't had the time to…" He also cut off when he saw the look on her face."

"Are you kidding?! This is great Matty! I love it! Let me unpack and I'll cook us something to celebrate." She hauled her large suitcase on to the bed already unpacking as quickly as possible to become part of her new home.

"The last time you cooked I was in the hospital for a week." He gave her a smile as she pretended to look offended and then continued. "Also, I want my friends to meet you, so I called them and we are meeting them for dinner at the grill, so dress comfy." She nodded and finished hanging her clothes. When she had emptied all of the contents in her suitcase, she stepped back from the closet and let the feeling sink in. _Wow…my own closet. _She then plopped down on the bed to look at her closet afar with hopes it might make picking an outfit easier to meet the infamous friends he had been talking about constantly, when she heard something hit the dark glossed wooden floor. She stood up and gazed around the room slowly but saw nothing on the right side. She went to the left side of the room, the light streaming in from her window making her search slightly easier, and a glint hit her eye. Her gaze followed the glint until her eyes rested upon an archaic but beautiful necklace. _It must have been hidden between the mattress and the bed frame…it's beautiful._ She thought, her most gifted skill kicking into high gear. Kneeling down, she flipped over the necklace's pendant in her hand, inspecting each side, and she noticed that the front was a simple, modest design and the back had two letters engraved in cursive: **N.V**

As Nellie's thumb brushed over the mysterious engravings, her heart leaped out of her chest! _WOAH! Weird…_ she hadn't dropped the necklace but she removed her thumb and just stared at the enigma that was this gorgeous necklace.

"Nellie are you ready or what?! It's time to go!" Matt yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Just a minute!" She yelled back, rushing to throw on a fresh top. She clasped the necklace on and threw on her plain black v-neck with her jeans and flat-footed black boots that she was previously wearing. _My new mystery will have to wait, _she thought.

…

Nellie loved the old historic town scenery she passed while on her way to the honored "Mystic Grill" she heard so much about. They passed old lamp posts, the town park with the whitewashed gazebo in the center, and the especially interesting library (which had to be the biggest building she had seen so far). The library had grey cobblestone columns as well as numerous steps before you reached the small doors; spending most of her time in libraries, she knew this is where she would be nearly all of the time. When Matt finally pulled the pick-up to the front of the Grill, Nellie hopped out of the truck and took a whiff of what would soon be lunch.

"That smells great!" Her stomach was growling so loud it sounded like Matt was starting up the truck again.

"We aren't the best place to eat in town, Nell, but we certainly know how to make a good friggin' burger." Matt joked.

"Good because I have been craving one for weeks! They don't have them in Cali, too many women there are worried about their 'eating habits'. I say, if your going to eat food anyway, why not eat something tasty!" As Nellie finished her sentence, Matt couldn't remember the last time they had sat down and had a burger together. Matt loved that Nellie wasn't about all of the 'girlie crap' that annoyed him so much and that she never asked him if a dress made her look fat. She could care less what others thought of her most of the time and Matt was comforted by her because of it. Even though they weren't biological family, he loved her like a sister all the same. Matt held the door open and when Nellie walked inside, deja-vu hit her like a freight train.

"Matt, have you ever brought me here before?" She couldn't remember ever coming to this burger joint but felt as though it was something she did every day.

"No, I don't think so. When you lived here it was a shoe shop." He gave her a sideways glance. "Why?"

"I don't know…weird…jet lag man, it's totally messing with me." She continued to let Matt guide her to a table with two men and a young woman all kicking back and enjoying themselves. As Matt guided Nellie closer she could see that the two men were very handsome and the woman was completely gorgeous and resembled a certain character that Matt might have previously described.

"Hey guys, this," Matt said with an introductory hand wave, "is Nellie." They all stood as Matt finished his introduction. The woman extended her olive skin colored hand and shook Nellie's, leaving behind warmth.

"Hi! It's so cool to finally meet you! I'm Elena." She said with a smile. Her long straight brown hair slid over shoulder with more grace than Nellie could ever have and Elena's brown eyes were no less beautiful.  
>"It's nice to meet you too! I have heard quite a bit about you from Matt already." Nellie returned the smile (less gracefully).<p>

"All good things I hope." She said sitting back down in her bar chair. Nellie just started laughing to herself and Matt cut her a sideways glance.

"OH you don't know the half of it." Nellie began.

"Anyway," Matt cut her off, "Nellie this is Stefan and Damon." Nellie noticed that the two looked alike but if Matt hadn't previously mentioned that they were brothers, she wouldn't have guessed it because of the different ways each carried himself. Stefan was very gentlemanly and kind-eyed with his soft brown hair and melt-worthy green eyes, while Damon was more edgy with his black leather jacket, jet-black hair, icy blue eyes, and his I'm-God's-Gift-To-Women attitude. Nellie was sure most women couldn't see past the bad boy act to the most likely troubled mess underneath.

"Nice to meet you." Stefan said, also leaving behind warmth from his strong handshake (his warmth reminded her of a toaster oven though). Damon just did a mini solute, which Nellie awkwardly returned. They all sat down and when the waitress came by, there stomachs growled in unison.

After giving their orders and listening to story after story from Elena's perspective about how Matt's high school years were eventful, Stefan spoke up about a story he apparently found funny.

"Matt, remember that time you were bit by El," but Matt cut him off, leaving Stefan slightly confused.

"Oh right by that animal…" Matt said awkwardly. _You've always been horrible at lying Matty but I won't push if don't want me to know this apparently hilarious story about some chick biting you…_ Nellie thought to herself. "Couldn't sit for a week." He continued to chuckle. There was an elephant in the room but everyone at the table seemed to have an understanding about not telling Nellie what it was.

"So Nell, tell em' what you do for a living now?" Matt proudly asked. He was always proud of Nellie. Nellie didn't know where to start but it wouldn't be with how uncomfortable she felt about Damon staring at her necklace. Nellie was extremely observant and as much as Damon seemed to be trying to play it cool, she could tell by his body language that he was extremely uncomfortable or didn't want to be in his current situation.

"Well, I investigate." She said simply and with a proud smile. She was damn good at it too. It's all she ever wanted to do.

"Investigate?" Elena asked, prodding for further elaboration.

"Yes," Nellie sat up and continued, "I investigate crime scenes and give numerous predicted ways in which the crime could have happened. So not like CSI the TV show but more like writing up reports and doing special research analysis after visiting crime scenes to give the detectives more to work with. It's an extremely fulfilling job that I completely enjoy." She finished with a swig of her iced tea and finally looked up to see surprised faces staring back at her. "What?" She said, suddenly confused.

"Wow." Stefan said. "That's interesting. When Matt said you had a cool job, I just wasn't expecting that but good for you." He seemed nice enough but they all (including Matt) seemed to be leaving something out.

"Yeah, it's not your average day work but it's got a rewarding feeling I can't pass up. Anyway, I have an early day tomorrow at the Sheriff's office so I think it's time me and Matty head home." Nellie yawned.

"Matty?" Elena asked, obviously amused.

"Oh sorry. I have just been calling him that forever that I forget I do it sometimes." Nellie said as they all got up, dropping tip money onto the table. Damon looked like he was about to share a snide remark by the look of his smirk when Matt cut in.

"Don't even think about it, Damon." He warned and Damon just smirked wider, keeping his remark to himself but obviously laughing on the inside.

…

After Nellie had settled into her new room and Matt had gone to sleep, she turned out her light and looked at the stars outside her bedroom window while she turned onto her right side (she nearly always slept on her right side). The necklace slid down her chest and landed on her hands, which were nestled into her neck. She had completely forgotten she had put the beauty on. Besides the weird response she was getting from Damon, the necklace didn't catch anybody's eye and so it slipped her mind. She looked at the engravings again, this time under moonlight. The silver pendant seemed rather mesmerizing under this new light but she was still burdened by the curiosity of the two simple letters on the back: N.V. _What does this mean?_ She continued to question the origin of the letters. She tried getting a better handle on the necklace, perhaps a little more to the left would provide her more light and she could see something she had missed before. When she did, her thumb touched the engraved letters and again, her leaped out of her chest but this time, she was in a completely new place. She was on a bridge, water rushing underneath, and it was somewhere in what looked to be a forested area. The location was beautiful, calm, and yet an eerie presence lurked in the shadows. Nellie heard the snapping of a twig and turned on her heel. Once her 180' was complete, she was staring upon someone who remarkably resembled Stefan but she knew, by instinct, that it wasn't him. The body language was all wrong and his eyes were filled with an unknown source of confidence and maybe even wisdom of some sort. Stefan's were filled with age but also with love, kindness, and some regret he probably didn't want to share with Nellie. Nellie didn't say anything because she wasn't sure what was happening or why.

The man took a step forward and Nellie instinctively took a step back. She was always careful and something wasn't right about her situation. He obviously got the hint and stood still. For a while they just stared at one another. Her stare was probably filled with confusion and caution, while his displayed pure curiosity. He seemed to be studying her, as if he was picking around in her thoughts (not that he would find anything because she wasn't thinking about that much other than different tactics to what ever move he made). He tilted his head and now had his full attention on Nellie's necklace. She looked down at it and noticed it was glowing red, as if it were a stove that was burning hot. As if she had thought that too soon, the necklace began to burn against her skin all too real like and she tried to take it off but it wouldn't unlatch. The burning intensified and the man closed the gap between them, trying to help her pull the necklace off. The once curiosity ridden face was now filled with a mix of concern and protectiveness. When his hand grazed her neck, she looked up at him while he concentrated, and she wondered why he was helping her. But before the thoughts and questions could go any further, the heat took over and she shot out of the forest and into her bed.

Sitting straight up and necklace in her hands she touched below her collarbone, where the necklace had been in her dream.

Two small letters were burned into her chest.

N.V

To be continued…


	2. A Stranger in a Strange Place

**Authors Note: Hey guys! I wrote this one rather quickly because I have got some school work coming up that will keep me from writing for awhile but hopefully this chapter is to your liking! I have more big twisters coming up, as this was sort of a filler chapter! Please leave comments so I can know where you guys want the story to go!**

**Thanks a bunches and I hope you like it! –JennaDiane**

Chapter 2: A Stranger in a Strange Place

"We identified him from his wallet. Looks like his name was Professor Allen Hall. He worked up at the community college." The sheriff finished looking at Professor Hall's wallet and dropped it into an evidence bag.

"Did the coroner give us a guess at what the cause of death was? This man looks awfully pale for just dying ten hours ago… " Nellie was snapping pictures of each numbered piece of evidence (noted by a small yellow numbered card) so the sheriff could bag it.

"You're not going to believe this…" Sheriff Forbes hesitated.

"What is it Sheriff?" Nellie continued to snap pictures while keeping a consistent dialogue; it was how she worked. The minute she would look away from the scene she would lose her thought process.

"He was drained of blood after putting up what looks like a big fight. Someone beat the man and then like a psycho, drained him. Sadly this sort of thing isn't uncommon around here." At that Nellie looked at the Sheriff from her crouched position by the former Professor Hall.

"What? This has happened more than once?" Nellie asked confused and Sheriff Forbes responded with a simple nod as she looked through the write up left by the coroner. "Well do you think it's the same person or a serial killer of some sort?" Nellie asked, returning to the last of photos she needed to take for her formal write up. When the Sheriff didn't respond Nellie turned and saw that she had walked back to the SUV. _Nice talking to you to Sheriff…_ Nellie thought and when she was about to return to her work, she saw Damon and Stefan approach the Sheriff. _What are they doing here? This town is so weird. _But she had a job to do so she ignored the distraction and took a step back for a better angle of the whole scene. _So, _she rubbed her chin while she thought, _the coroner said the man had no blood left in his body but there isn't any blood around the body…was he moved after the fact? Something is missing…_Nellie crouched down to the body and noticed something peculiar about Professor Hall's brown loafers._ There isn't even dirt in the soles of his shoes. He was moved or someone changed his shoes… which is completely unlikely so, if he was moved, where did he come from? _Nellie looked up from the body but stayed crouched, scanning the dirt covered graveyard for drag marks. After a few moments, disturbed dirt and uprooted grass made a path that caught her eye. Following the path with her line of sight, she determined it was headed towards the forested area across the way.

"Find anything Nancy Drew?" Nellie heard the wisecrack from behind her and glanced up to see Damon and Stefan standing a couple of paces away.

"What are you two doing here?" She raised from crouching to standing, letting the strap hold onto her camera by her side. _Why would the Sheriff let two civilians on the crime scene?_

"We help out the Sheriff sometimes. I also knew Professor Hall so I thought I would let the Sheriff know what I knew about him. Save you guys some time." Stefan said with the most innocent face he could muster.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend you didn't just lie to my face…I havn't found much yet, I still need time to look around some more before I can give a full analysis, which I will be giving to the Sheriff." Nellie said this with a smile so it would be less offensive but being interrupted while in the middle of her mental crime scene process was not something she at all liked.

"We didn't…" Stefan began but Damon waived him off.

"Don't worry about it Stefan. The girl called our bluff. If you really want to know what's going on around here, I'm sure you'll figure it out or you could just ask your brother. Either way, the Sheriff is letting us in on the case so whattyah got? I'm not patient." When Damon finished, Nellie glanced over his shoulder at the Sheriff who gave her the 'they're fine' nod.

"Alright. I don't appreciate the attitude but thanks for leveling with me, finally." They exchanged a nod and she continued. "Alright, so first off, the man was supposedly beaten before being…drained of blood? Anyway, I snapped a couple of pictures of the abrasions on his arms as well as the bruise on his neck from being held down. If I can process the photo in higher definition I should be able to get a general hand size." She moved towards Professor Hall's feet, pointing out the discovery about his shoes. "It also appears that the body was moved to its current location."

"What do you mean moved?" Asked Stefan, shifting in stance and crossing his arms.

"I 'mean' that if you look closer at his shoes, you will notice that there aren't any traces of dirt in the creases of his shoes and it's likely the killer didn't change his shoes so the next option is moving the body. The dirt residue on his pant legs suggests he was dragged with his front side facing down and then abruptly dropped. So far that's all I have because I havn't been able to cross-reference any of my findings. What do you know about Hall?" She asked. Having insight on the victim might expedite the process of figuring out where he has been as well as where he was going. When she looked from Stefan to Damon she realized that Damon was looking at the bandage on her chest, which was covering her mysterious burn. She tried to cover it with her jacket without seeming suspicious but Damon seemed to be pretty good as seeing right through her sometimes.

"Well Professor Hall is a teacher up at the community college. We see him at the grill and the library a lot. He also doesn't have any family so you get to skip telling loved ones he died. Hall was a nice guy though…really smart." Stefan seemed to know Allen Hall a lot better than Damon, which was apparent when he didn't pitch in on the bio.

"Alright, I'll keep looking and give you guys a call if I find something else." She finished up with them by exchanging numbers with Stefan and Damon and they left the scene, driving away in Damon's old black sports car. When they were finally out of sight, Nellie lifted the bandage to get a peak inside. The burn was heating up and it had been bothering her all morning but she was trying to keep it to herself. Not only did she have this extremely weird burn but, the whole town seemed to be keeping something from her and she intended to figure it out. She replaced the bandage and put the necklace back under her shirt line to hide it from view. _Now to get back to those drag marks…_

….

After what seemed like mile after mile of following drag marks, Nellie finally made it to a clearing and the drag mark path seemed to stop on a wooden surface. Looking around the wooden planks, she found a puddle of blood and immediately began snapping pictures for her scene analysis. After she finished documenting every last drop and taking a sample with her swab (to ensure this wasn't the site of yet another murder), she stepped off the wooden planks to get a different view. She went to snap a picture of the scene from her new angle and as she gazed through the lens she noticed she was looking at a bridge hiding in plain sight.

"Is that a…" she began as she lowered her camera.

"The first bridge ever built in Mystic Falls." A voice sounded behind her and she spun on her heels. She let out a gasp of relief when she saw that it was Stefan.

"Stefan, don't sneak up on me like that. You could give a girl a heart attack."

"Sorry. Won't happen again, promise." He smiled and gazed past her to the bridge. "How did you find this? You've only been in town a day."

"Well the killer killed our victim here; I found it by following his trail. Puddle of blood suggests that it happened right over there." She pointed to the spot and continued. "But there is something that I don't understand."

"And what's that?" Stefan crouched by the blood and inspected the surrounding area.

"Why was Professor Hall even out here? It's not close to civilization and he doesn't seem to be the graveyard-dwelling type. You think he was meeting someone? Or was lured?" She thought out loud.

"Sounds like probable possibilities. But…hey are you okay?" Stefan responded to Nellie's facial expression of hidden pain.

"Yeah I'm fine why?" Nellie pushed past Stefan in an effort to hide the pain she was feeling from the burn radiating heat through her body. Her face was flushed, showing the amount of heat brewing inside of her. Before Stefan could say another word, Nellie's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw Matt's name on the caller I.D on her old flip phone's screen.

"One sec. It's Matt." She said to Stefan who just nodded. "Hey Matt, what do you need? I'm still working so make it quick." Nellie said.

"Oh hey. I was calling to check on you. Sheriff Forbes said you disappeared from the scene." Matt's usual big brother worrying was taking over.

"I didn't disappear, I'm following a lead I found in the forested area behind the graveyard with Stefan. No need to worry Matty." Nellie reassured him.

"Nellie get out of there now!" Matt's voiced started to raise on the other side of the line. Nellie's heart began to race from his sudden mood change.

"Why Matt? What's going on?" Nellie questioned, but before Matt could answer, Stefan took her phone and snapped it shut. Nellie cautiously stepped back, realizing now that she was in the middle of the woods, out of reach of help, and Matt was screaming that she needed to run from Stefan.

"I really wish you hadn't answered that phone call…" He began to step forward but when Nellie took another step back, he stopped in his tracks, understanding the message.

"Stefan what is going on? Why did you take my phone?" Nellie was angry that she seemed so helpless but she was on an old bridge that seemed like it could go any second with a guy she barely knew. _What the hell is going on?_ She thought, trying to keep from going into panic mode. She hardly ever panicked but she didn't see many options. But Stefan didn't answer, he only gazed at her collarbone. Going against her instincts, she followed his gaze to her necklace, which was bright red and burning at a level of intense heat. He began to take a step forward but she knew what would happen because she was remembering her freak dream and so, instinctively she kept stepping back, away from the déjà vu that was smacking her in the face. She yanked the necklace off and shoved it in her pocket, it began to cool down but the burns on her chest only grew hotter.

"Stefan…" She began nervously, counteracting his every move with the opposite. He finally stopped and stood in front of her, giving her a look she was beginning to understand.

"You're not Stefan." She thought out loud. He shifted in his place, looking disappointed she had figured it out so quickly, like he had more he wanted to get out of her before telling her the truth.

"No, I'm not Stefan…

My name is Silas."

….

The black tires of Matt's truck, screeched to a stop in the graveyard parking lot. Matt and Damon bolted out of the truck, leaving Elena behind to watch for Nellie leaving the woods. Damon was a much faster runner than Matt, of course, but for a human, he wasn't doing badly at keeping up. Sprinting through the forested area, Matt followed close behind Damon who knew the fastest way to the bridge. When Matt had called Nellie, he expected her to be at the library or on her way to the Sheriff's office. When Nellie mentioned she was Stefan, Matt had gone into shock because at that moment, the real Stefan had been three paces in front of him, talking with Damon. The minute Matt started yelling into the phone, Stefan called the Sheriff and Damon yanked Matt into the truck, who was followed by Elena. They left Stefan to go to the hospital in case Nellie somehow showed up. Who was Matt kidding? He still was in panic mode, just running at the same time. Nellie was a life long friend and she was in the forest. Alone. With Silas. As Matt thought all of this through, he began to run faster and after what seemed like a couple of miles and hours of running (really twenty minutes), he came to a clearing that opened up to a small, old, wooden bridge. Damon was crouched on the bridge and he was picking up something.

"Is she there?!" Matt yelled as he ran to catch up.

"No. Just her camera." He yelled back, putting something else in his pocket.

"Damon, do you think…" Matt began to go further into shock.

"If Silas took Nellie, there is no way of telling where he might have taken her." _Or why…_ he thought. Damon was not going to lie to the kid. This didn't look good for Nellie. Matt's phone began to buzz in his pocket but he stood frozen. After a few seconds, Damon lost patience. Like always.

"Matt, answer your phone! It could be Stefan!" Damon yelled, snapping Matt out of shock. Matt yanked his phone from his pocket and slid his finger across the screen.

"Stefan?"

"Yeah it's me Matt. You might want to come to the hospital." Stefan said calmly. Matt gave Damon a nod and they both started running back to the truck, Matt still talking to Stefan on the way.

"Is she there?" Matt huffed as he ran.

"Yeah, she's in a slight coma but she's here. And I'm not going to take my eyes of her, promise." Stefan said protectively.

"How did she get there? Did she check herself in?" Matt asked, opening up the passenger side door, letting Damon drive while he was freaking out.

"No. The nurse said I brought her in…"

TO BE CONTINUED….


	3. Normal? Good Luck With That!

**Authors Note: Hey guys! I have totally blown off homework for this so enjoy…I will say this is an extremely long chapter but this was all so important! I will grow the other characters a little more later on but for right now, we have just three main characters. I really hope you like this chapter, it's got a lot of new developments **** Enjoy! Oh, PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! I love to hear from you all **

Chapter 3: Normal? Good Luck With That.

Damon's eyes inspected the petite frame that quietly breathed in the stale hospital bed. He noticed that when her golden blonde hair wasn't up in a French braid that it was extremely long and looked silky as it cascaded down her white pillow. Nellie's blue eyes were hidden but Damon knew that when she finally decided to stop being stubborn and wake up, she had a whole lot of supernatural information to absorb. If Matt still refused to tell her than Damon would do it himself for the sake of keeping Silas away from what it was that caused his interest in Nellie, who was becoming a pain in the rear, in the first place. Matt was still out in the hallway because he couldn't bare to look at Nellie in the state she was in, _wimp…._thought Damon silently. Stefan and Elena were doing their usual mushy relationship crap outside in the hallway so Damon was left to keep an eye on Nellie. Again, she was a pain in his rear at this point. Not only had she brought a psycho version of Stefan into the mix but she wasn't exactly the least stubborn person he had ever met… then again, he was pretty stubborn himself so he couldn't complain _too_ much. After taking one last glance at Nellie to make sure she was really asleep, he pulled the necklace from the pocket of his dark jeans, inspecting the very thing that had been nagging at his memory for the past couple of days. He knew he had seen this somewhere and judging from the design, it definitely was not from Nellie's era, _where did you get this?_ He continued to scrutinize every inch and when he flipped it over, he noticed the engraving. _N.V….what the…? What the heck does that mean…I swear, if this is another stupid relic, I'm gonna…_

"Hey, whatya got there?" Matt asked from the hospital room door entrance. Damon just shoved it back in it's original hiding place and decided he would get Nellie to tell him what she knew about the mysterious item without the protection of her 'brother' in his way. Not that Matt posed much of a threat but Damon's fuse was pretty darn short with that kid and Elena would freak if he hurt Matt.

"Nothing… what did the nurse say?" Damon wanted to get this show on the road already.

"Well, she said that Stefan carried Nell from the entrance all the way into this room, told her to check out the burns on the collarbone area of her chest, and then waited outside the room, but eventually left when she was stable… to make things even more weird… Nell's temperature was 110 degrees when she first got here but she isn't showing any signs of an illness once so ever. Completely healthy. Also, the burn on her chest, get this, it had two letters in the middle…" Matt took a breath.

"N.V…" Damon thought out loud, thinking back to the engraving on the necklace. Matt's face began to contort in surprise when he heard Damon's guess. Damon got up and walked to the side of Nellie's unmoving comatose body. _She looks good when she isn't talking…_ Damon let out a slight laugh at his own joke,_ if I could just get this bandage off…_

"Yeah, that's right…how did you know that?" Matt asked with curiosity.

"I'm not just a pretty face Matty…" He glanced at Matt to see his reaction which was exactly as he expected, irritated. Damon eventually stopped looking smug long enough to continue. "Just a good guess…" He lied as he slowly lifted the bandage from the branding on her chest. The surrounding burn matched the necklace's shape exactly. Damon just stared at the wound, wondering how the heck something like that would happen.

"Uh, dude, why are you staring at my sister's chest?" The site grossed Matt out just a tad...no it grossed him out _a lot._ Damon was obviously concentrating, which made Matt extremely uncomfortable.

"Calm down Matty, I'm just looking at the burn. Just curious. It's not every day a girl gets a tattoo like that." His smug attitude adding to rudeness on top of the sarcasm and use of the nickname that Matt obviously didn't like anyone else to use.

"Do you think Silas gave it to her? He did point it out to the nurse…" Matt guessed.

"No. If Silas would go through the trouble to brand someone, he wouldn't point it out because he would already know what it means. I think he is just as curious as us about what it means…" Damon didn't usually think out loud this much. _This girl brings out the worst in me…_ he silently complained as he realized he had spoken out loud. He was the strong and silent type, not like Stefan. Yet here he was, trying to keep Matt's human brain up to speed.

…

"Come again?" Nellie couldn't believe what these people were saying to her. Damon, Elena, Stefan (the real one this time, thank god!), and Matt all sat around her uncomfortable hospital bed, telling her that vampires, witches, werewolves and god knows what else were real. Well Damon wasn't sitting, he was propped up against the wall, arms crossed. Matt's eyes were surrounded by dark circles and Nellie could swear he aged ten years overnight.

"I know it's a lot to process…" Stefan continued, "but now that you are a part of it, we can't keep you in the dark anymore."

"You think?" Nellie didn't mean to be rude but this is not what she expected to find in Mystic Falls. "Sorry, I just… you're right, it's a lot."

"You are taking the news better than most, if that helps?" Elena added with a sweet smile. _Well Silas made believing supernatural things fairly easy…_ Nellie thought.

"Do you want to explain why Silas brought you to the hospital?" Damon pushed. The group glared at him as if it was too soon. As rude as he was, she slightly appreciated that he would be straight with her while the others would not. _Until I know what is going on, I don't think I should say anything about that…_ Nellie silently decided, going over all her options in her head.

"I don't even remember this alleged encounter with an evil twin of Stefan's." Nellie thought humor would mask her obvious lie. She could see right through everyone else's lies but she was a horrible liar herself. Damon's eyes narrowed and he waited for a break in her false façade.

"We understand. We'll let you mull this all over and come back. Hopefully you will be able to remember when we come back. Damon let's go." Stefan was surprised by his brother's pushing and started to wonder if Damon was hiding something as well. Damon gave Nellie a look she couldn't quite read and left with Matt and the others. She gave it five minutes and then began to remove the monitors and her IV. Thanks to Matt, she had a fresh set of clothes waiting for her on the counter and she quickly changed, leaving the hospital room before the nurses realized why her monitor was beeping like she was dead. Fortunately for her, the nurses responded quite slowly in the small town. Making an exit through a backdoor of the hospital, Nellie briefly stopped to soak in the damp, foggy weather and then continued down Elms street, headed to the colossal library for answers.

…..

Damon had told the others that he would catch up, that he had an errand to run, so Elena and Stefan took Matt home. Damon sat and waited in his jet black 1964 Ford Mustang in the hospital's parking lot. He knew if Nellie was going to make a break for it, it would probably out the back and of course, he was right. When Nellie popped her head out the back door and headed down Elm Street, Damon waited a minute or two and then followed her. Keeping blocks behind, the Mustang rolled down Elm Street and Damon finally found her, opening the front doors of the library.

"That was quick…" Damon concluded, as he shut the door to his Mustang and trotted across the street and opened the library door. He noticed blonde hair bobbing up and down towards the archives section of the library and took another root. He didn't want to blow his chances of being covert and she was a trained investigator so he took every complex root possible, weaving in and out of rows of books. When he came to archives, he saw Nellie at a Microfiche, which is an old computer used to scan through newspaper archives. The Mystic Falls library wasn't very updated with it's old wallpaper peeling and smell of used books but that's what you get when you live in a small town. Damon quietly took a seat in a study cubby one desk behind Nellie and just watched. He noticed that as she was looking through the Microfiche she was taking notes as well as rubbing the burn on her chest._ Now all I have to do is wait…_

…..

Nellie couldn't believe the library didn't have updated equipment to do some research on but after a moment she realized a real upside to that. It would be extremely hard to track her browsing history. Nellie had a feeling that someone was watching her wash over her and she took a quick look around. She didn't notice anybody to suspicious but she knew she had to be careful not to get paranoid because that was the last thing she needed. She saw something familiar flash by the Microfiche and she immediately stopped and clicked back. The newspaper article was titled "Body drained with no suspects to question". There was a picture of the crime scene tacked to the article and she scrutinized every inch of it. The scene was exactly like the one she had been on yesterday…_is that…_ She recognized a face in the group of civilians behind the yellow crime scene tape. _Silas…he was at both scenes._ As she thought she remembered the handprint left on Professor Hall's neck. _Thank God Matt brought my camera to the hospital along with my other things…_ She rummaged through the bag Matt had brought her, whipping out her camera to get a look at the crime scene photos. She held the camera up to the screen to get a comparison and_ oh my…Silas killed Professor Hall…and this man here. Great, not only do I have a psycho vampire after me but he just happens to be a murder too. _Nellie's breathing began to quicken and she had to step away from all of this. Just take a step back and catch a breath. She deleted what little history the Microfiche recorded and quickly grabbed her things, heading straight for the front door. Nellie made it out the door and felt a strong grip rip her towards the side of the building. _Oh no, not this time._ She sent an elbow in the assailant's face and stomped her foot down as hard as she could before sending another jab to his groin, but nothing happened. His grip was still ironclad and she squirmed with all her might.

"Calm down…" He began to say but she began to scream. His hand flew over her mouth and he began to hush her again. "Would you knock it off? It's just me." Damon reassured. When Nellie heard his voice, she stopped squirming and he released her. She turned around to make sure her sense of hearing wasn't failing her and let out a breath of relief. Damon just rubbed the red mark forming on his face from Nellie's elbow jab.

"Sorry I thought you were…" She didn't finish that sentence. She had agreed to herself that she wouldn't talk about what happened until she had all the facts.

"Where the hell did you learn how to hit so hard?" Damon sat down on the bench, obviously somewhat ill from that last jab she threw to his sensitive manhood.

"Foster homes. If I had known…" She tried to apologize but he just gave her a glare.

"You want to tell me why you lied to everyone?" He asked, sitting up and motioning for her to sit on the bench before he made her sit.

"Do you want to tell me why you are following me? And no, not really." Nellie just looked at him. _Why do you care so much?_ She was getting irritated that he kept reading her like the Sunday paper.

"Well start talking before I call Matt and tell him…" Damon started but she interrupted.

"NO! You can't." She had put a hand on his hand that was dialing Matt's number and when he sent her another heated glare she removed her hand and continued. "Okay, I will tell you everything you just have to keep it to yourself. He…he will kill…" She began to breathe quickly again and survey her surroundings. Damon hadn't realized she was so scared.

"Alright blondie, calm down. I won't say anything but why are you trusting me and not Matt?" He asked.

"I don't trust you. Not completely anyway. But you obviously won't let me figure this out on my own. Why do you care so much? What does any of this have to do with you? And who is Silas really?" She began to blurt out question after question.

"Silas killed Elena's brother and is gunning for us. I want to figure out his weakness and so far you are the only one I have seen so start talking."

"After yesterday, I don't need to talk, I can just show you." She wavered.

"What do you mean?" He asked completely confused.

"For once in your life Damon shut up and let me show you!" Her outburst of frustration was unexpected. _So much fire for such a small girl…_ Damon just nodded. Nellie scooted closer to Damon (thighs almost touching), rubbed her hands together, and placed her palms on his cheeks.

"Are you ready?" She asked, her tone edged with warning. He nodded, obviously a little uncomfortable. Nellie nodded back, took in a breath, and then they both felt a lurch in their stomachs. Damon noticed a scenery change and glanced around. Him and Nellie were standing on the bridge in the clearing.

"What did you do?" Damon had seen some weird stuff but this was definitely new.

"I am showing you what happened yesterday." She answered and before Damon could ask her another question, he heard snapping branches from behind them. He pivoted and saw Nellie in her gear running towards them. When she broke through to the clearing, she slowly walked to the bridge. Nellie and Damon watched as Yesterday-Nellie made her way through her crime scene evaluation process. As Nellie took pictures of the blood on the wooden planks, Silas quietly emerged from the clearing, watching Nellie investigate.

"Can he…" Damon began.

"No. He can't see us because I am just showing you a memory. You're an observer nothing else."

The Yesterday-Nellie took a step back, almost into Silas, and lifted her camera. She was trying to focus the camera and then she stopped, lowering it to her side.

"Is that a…" Yesterday-Nellie began.

"The first bridge in Mystic Falls…" Silas said from behind her, making Nellie whirl around and then gasp in relief when she realized it was Stefan (or who she thought was Stefan). Damon watched as Nellie scolded and then explained the crime scene to Silas (thinking it was Stefan).

"It's creepy how well you two work together…" Damon noted. Nellie just shot him a menacing glare and said, "watch". Yesterday-Nellie was pulling her phone out of her pocket and talking to Matt until Matt screamed into the phone. Damon saw Silas snatch the phone from Nellie and throw it into the grass a few yards away.

"I really wish you hadn't answered that phone call…" Silas said with an exasperated tone. He began to step forward but when Yesterday-Nellie took another step back, he stopped in his tracks.

"Stefan what is going on? Why did you take my phone?" She asked. Damon and Nellie watched the replay of what Nellie didn't want to remember. "Stefan…You're not Stefan." Yesterday-Nellie said, straightening up defiantly.

"No I'm not Stefan…My name is Silas." Silas said, shifting his weight from one foot to other, hidden amusement in his face. "Your investigating skills are impressive. It only took you one day to find what it would take six days for the other police to find." When Yesterday-Nellie didn't say anything, he continued. "You don't have to be afraid of me, I won't hurt you unless you give me a reason to."

"I am not afraid of you." Yesterday-Nellie added quickly, defiance running rampant in her sentence. Silas gave her the sly smile of a predator playing with his favorite prey. He stepped forward and before she could step back he had wrapped his firm around her waist and secured her hands behind her back. She was fighting back at first but when she realized it was getting her nowhere, she began to squirm instead.

"What do you want from me?" She asked angrily.

"Ah, of course, straight down to business as I expected." Silas said as he moved a dangling hair out of her face and she looked away. Eventually he continued. "I need you to help me find something. Something very important to me."

"Anyone can do that, what does it have to do with me?" She said through her teeth with rage behind every word. She was growing angrier and angrier the longer he overpowered her.

"That burn mark is proof that only you can find what I am looking for. The necklace burned it on didn't it? You have no idea what it means do you?" He said slyly. Her gaze moved down to the burn, which Damon could tell was overheating at the moment. Silas brought a hand up to her chin and raised her face to eye level. _This is getting creepy…_ Damon thought and when he looked at the real Nellie, she was crawling with discomfort.

"I'm guessing those two letters mean Nellie Vallencia." Silas said and Yesterday-Nellie's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" She gasped. The letters on her chest were slowly growing iron-red-hot.

"You have abilities that…how do I say this…were passed down to you from whom, I am still trying figure out, but I know I've got the right girl." He swayed slyly from side to side. "So, Nellie, find what I need for me and I will play nice." Silas' hand was still caressing her face, bodies close.

"You have the wrong girl. I am completely normal." She promised, blue eyes wide.

"Normal? Good luck with that." He chuckled. "Not just a pretty face but funny too. Let me try this again. Help me find what I am looking for or your friend Matt…well…I don't want to give too much away on the first date." Yesterday-Nellie's face contorted with anger and the wooden boards on the bridge began to shake and a smile widened on Silas' face. Her whole body began to flush with heat and a burst of telekinetic energy sent half the bridge's wooden planks flying into the water and surrounding area. After the blast, which leveled half the surrounding forest, Yesterday-Nellie lay in Silas' arms completely unmoving, he looked a little shaken as he wrapped his other arm around her legs, hoisting her up and walking towards the hospital, shrugging off the after effects of the blast.

He walked passed Damon and Nellie, carrying a lifeless Yesterday-Nellie.

"I knew I found the right girl…"

TO BE CONTINUED….

**Let's aim for three reviews before my next chapter is released **** Please review because if I don't get three reviews after saying that, I will be oober embarrassed! Feel free to suggest and plot twists you would like to written in!**


	4. The Beginnings of a Heist

**Authors Note:**** Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long! I have 3 exams next week so it was hard for me to find time to post this but hey here it is…um, it is a filler chapter because I needed to lay some ground work before continuing with the interesting parts so enjoy and please leave comments! I need all the help I can get!**

Chapter 4: The Beginnings of a Heist

Nellie lowered her small shaking hands from Damon's cold cheeks and felt a trickle of liquid run down her lip from her nose. All of the sudden her body was sluggish and it felt as though gravity was tugging her down to the bench. She glanced up at Damon who changed his initial expression of surprise to one of slight anger. She sat tall and took a breath, combing her hands through her messy hair and then looking back to Damon.

"What? I thought that was pretty good for a first try…" She enthused with a shrug, wiping away the bitter tasting liquid that was dripping onto her lip. Realizing it was blood, she ruffled through her bag for a tissue while trying to elevate her nose at the same time, appearing a bit ridiculous.

"Why didn't you tell anyone this at the hospital?" Damon asked angrily, fully facing her now, returning the stubborn glare he had received earlier.

"Well, I didn't have all the facts yet and to be honest, I didn't quite remember it ALL at the time. Plus, I figured it would be better if I just kept the problem to myself. No need to get Matt all worked up for nothing." She answered, dabbing the tissue below her nose.

"For nothing? I wouldn't call the first immortal chasing you down, nothing. You realize once you help him find what he is looking for he is going to kill you, right?" He said with his usual tone of superiority.

"Really, Damon? You think that makes me feel better? It's not bad enough that I am some supernatural freak but now you have to add that kind of commentary? Men…" Huffing, she stood up and marched away in frustration. _Crap…I have to tell Stefan or else I will be the only one keeping up with this flight risk…_ Before Damon got up, he sent Stefan a quick text: We've got a problem. Be at the boarding house in 5. Once the message sent, he looked up to see Nellie almost out of eyesight already, her head twisting from side to side as she watched for a car before crossing the street. _Seriously…_ Damon trotted to the car and once again, he had to chase down the most stubborn girl out there. Once the car started up, he revved the engine, put the car in drive, and headed after Nellie, who was most likely being watched by Silas at this very moment.

...

Frustration welled inside of Nellie, turning her whole body into a furnace. Having so much on her plate already was bad enough but once Damon told the others, she knew they would look at her differently; like she was eventually going to help Silas with his disaster-ridden plot. Little did Silas know that she was far from helping the enemy. In her mind, Silas was a target and nothing more. Getting Damon to understand that however would be a bigger challenge. She had no idea what convincing the others would be like. Feet skidding quickly across the pavement, Nellie's pace only quickened the farther she walked, feet stomping harder and harder. She stopped herself, _Nellie, you need to calm down…_she thought as she felt a return of energy that resembled what she experienced when she was on the stack of wooden planks that Silas called a bridge. Little tiny shocks were pulsing from her core to the tips of her fingers, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. She side stepped until she was against a brick building she had been walking by, hoping it would give her stability so she focus on getting the surge to stop. Her back pressed against the wall, a loose brick was digging farther into her back the more she fought this new power. She forced herself to breathe, looking down at her classic black and white converse. That is when she heard it, a whisper in the back of her mind, calling her name in a voice she wish she didn't recognize.

_Don't fight it Nellie. Let me in. Let me help you._ The voice coaxed her. Nellie could hear speeding tires round the corner and she never thought she would be happier to see that 64' Ford Mustang again. _Nellie, you will help me. Stop fighting me and accept what you are…there is nowhere you can hide that I can't find you…_ the voice grew insistent and threatening. By now Nellie had let her back slide down the wall, leaving her in a sitting position on the pavement. Even from where she was sitting, the power still surged, growing angrier with each moment that Silas taunted her.

_Don't let him in Nellie,_ she coached herself, _Damon is almost here._ Then the voice laughed a little before it continued to beckon to her.

_It's sweet that you think they can help you. But you've forgotten something…_the voice began to grow but this time it was edged with concern, _I'm the only one who knows what is happening to you. I can help you._ Silas finished, his offer sounding tempting. Nellie wanted this to be over; the headache, the surges, the lying. But she knew better. Silas was the enemy and he was manipulating her. Unfortunately for her, she now had to accept that he was capable of doing so.

_Silas…GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_ She screamed telepathically, sending all of the surges, the power, and everything she had left. She hoped he felt it because she wanted to scare him. Show him that she was not to be trifled with. Growing weak again, blood dripping from her nose, her torso slid to pavement and she laid on the ground, watching the 64' Mustang skid to a stop a couple paces in front of her. Her surroundings were covered with fallen trees (ones that are placed in the cement for town décor), the loose bricks were now red dust swirling around in the draft, and everything briefly shimmered with a cloaking of her telepathic energy. Of course, it was only a second that someone could see the light blue energy but with the mass pounding of pain in her forehead, it seemed as though everything was in slow motion. Damon was hoisting Nellie up into the air, his steady arms firmly gripping her until he released her into his passenger seat. The leather interior gave off a smell that she would always love and she pulled her knees into her chest, balling up, facing Damon and letting her muscles lose all tension.

"Where are we going?" She coughed, sounding even weaker than she felt. Damon glanced at her with worry, which was the first time she had every seen anything other than anger or smugness contort his features. Finally speaking, Damon just looked forward, hands on the wheel and a determined look in his icy blue eyes.

"Somewhere safe."

….

"Oh this is not good…this is really bad…we should get you out of here…" Matt paced back and forth in the middle of the living room in the Salvatore Boarding house, accompanied by Stefan, Elena and Damon as he slowly thought up his plan for Nellie.

"He will just follow us Matt." Nellie was extremely good a flying under the radar given her level of training but this…this seemed different. Matt stopped pacing and looked her right in the eye.

"How could you not tell ME this? I don't understand…you tell me everything." His voice was tinged with betrayal. Nellie slowly raised from the couch, walked over to Matt, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Matt I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't know what was happening to me. For all I knew, I was hallucinating because at the time I didn't know the supernatural existed. Believe me, I wanted to tell you, I just…I just wanted all the facts before I brought anything to you." Nellie explained.

"So what do we do now? Anyone got a plan?" Damon pitched in.

"Well…" Stefan thought aloud as he was perched on the couch's arm, "maybe Nellie should stay with us, train a little bit. I mean, we can deal with her abilities a little better and we could both pitch in some combat for the next time Silas shows up…" Stefan suggested.

"Don't get me wrong, I am all for learning how to fight back but he will be able to counter my every move, how will learning combat help?" She asked curiously.

"What do you mean by that?" Matt questioned worriedly. Nellie looked down at her shoes again. _I probably should have kept that to myself…then again, look how that worked out for you last time Nell…_ she debated, tossing options around in her head.

"Nellie, you need to be straight with us. We can't help you otherwise." Elena added, appearing more exhausted since the last time Nellie had seen her.

"Well…before Damon found me…" She began.

"It wasn't hard, you kind of blew up Elm Street." He added with his usual sarcasm. Shooting him a side-glance of slight annoyance, Nellie took a breath before continuing.

"Silas was…he was in my head. Asking me to let him in and let him help me. The more he talked, the more threatening he became, as if he was losing patience or something." Nellie sat down on the arm of the couch, playing their mental conversation over in her mind.

"Nellie…" Matt trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Matt."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. When I find Silas…" He started, anger rising up.

"You're gonna what? Kill him? We tried that." Damon huffed.

"Well this changes things. You can't make a run for it, he will just follow the connection…your best bet is to stay with us and learn to control this ability before…" Nellie didn't like the sound of what Stefan was headed to.

"Before I hurt someone…got it." She winced, knowing all to well how true it was. This ability was out of her control and she would rather turn to Damon and Stefan for help than get it from Silas. Her phone began to buzz and familiar name lit up the screen.

"Sheriff Forbes? What's going on?" Sheriff Forbes was not one to ever call off-duty officers.

"Can you make it to the bank?" She asked, breathing heavy as if she had just ran a mile.

"Yeah, I'm leaving now…" She began to head out the door but ran straight into the brick wall that was Damon. "Well I will leave when Damon moves out of my way…"She continued with hostility in her voice.

"Silas is out there and your going to go right where he knows you're going to go? I don't think so." Nellie looked around for help but everyone gave her looks of agreement with Damon. She sat back down with an exasperated breath and rubbed her temples.

"Sheriff, I can't really go anywhere at the moment. Can I help over the phone? What is going on down there?" If she couldn't leave, she would bring her work home (her new home that was) with her.

"Armed gunman have taken hostages at the bank and we need all the help we can get. You are trained in hostage situations so I need you here Vallencia." She continued, obviously in need of serious help. The Mystic Falls police department didn't ever see this much action in one week, let alone two days. Nellie handed Damon the phone and stared at him hard-headedly, brow furrowed.

"This is Damon." He sounded somewhat confused about why he was now part of this conversation.

"Damon? Why do you have Nellie's phone? I don't have time for this, we need Vallencia here now!" Sheriff Forbes demanded.

"She's on lockdown. She can't leave the house." Damon stood his ground.

"Well come with her then. She is the only one with proper training."

…..

The black double doors of the bank swung open, inviting Damon and Nellie inside. Covered in Kevlar, not that Damon needed it, their boots scuffed across the marble tiles past two armed escorts who then led them to brains behind the entire operation. As Nellie made her way across the bank, she noticed that these robbers were holding their guns incorrectly as well as being highly unorganized with their hostages (they let the hostages spread out rather than keep them together, creating greater risk). She put her face close to her collar (where the hidden mic was at) and whispered "Forbes, these guys aren't professionals. There are two by the door, two leading us to the vault, and two more in the vault…" She finished quickly and quietly as the men glanced her way. _Serious newbies if they hadn't expected that…_ As they approached the vault, Damon and Nellie heard the other two men fighting.

"Because! He said we can't leave until the job is done!" This man was short like Nellie but weighed 250 pounds. He somewhat resembled an oompa loompa from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

"The job isn't even the bank anymore! He changed the plan for some hostage! We are running around in circles!" The other man was as skinny as a broom and had a bald spot towards the back of his head.

"Guys would you shut up! The negotiator is here…" The armed escort shoved her forward and Damon followed protectively, shooting the escort daggers with his eyes. Nellie shifted calmly and a stern look washed over her features. Her stance took a defiant edge and the men just stared back, slightly intimidated. Damon just smirked because these grown men were scared of a small girl that was at most, half their size.

"Where are we starting boys?" She began, plopping confidently in the chair next to her.

TO BE CONTINUED…

**Please leave reviews! I really do enjoy reading them! I am aiming for 4 this time before my next chapter release!**


	5. The Healer's Heist

**Author's Note:**** I want to thank some really great supporters for always leaving reviews: NicoleR85, MysticStefan, Calliope's Scribe, and HiddenSight48! You guys have been great supporters and I am so glad you leave reviews! It's going to be awhile before I update again because I have a lot of exams over the course of the next week but in any case, enjoy!**

Chapter 5: The Healer's Heist

"So what's it gonna' take? How are we going to settle this? You guys are running the show." Nellie was sitting on a backwards wooden bank teller chair, arms crossed, resting on the top of the chair. She had to seem confident. Everything that these robbers had displayed showed they were newbies and if she somehow managed to gain higher ground she might be able to talk them into a deal they wouldn't normally agree to if she appeared superior; classic hostage technique. Nellie could tell Damon was getting a kick out of her act but she couldn't reciprocate the smugness because there was a fine line between superior and smug. She wanted to seem like a person with experience-ridden advice not the jerk nobody wants to listen to.

"How bad is it?" One of the men asked from the back of the group but was silenced by what seemed to be the 'top dog'. To Nellie, they were all morons at this point.

"Well, you technically havn't stolen anything yet because you havn't left the bank and none of the hostages are wounded so your standing is pretty good, which means a good plea deal for you. If you cooperate and let the hostages go, I might be able to swing a short sentence of 18 months…" Nellie could tell her offer was tempting by the glances exchanged between them but what she couldn't figure out is why. _Yes, they are newbies but for the most part, they could have put Damon and I in a room with the hostages and made off with the money by now. The bags are ready and they have zip ties to secure us both, so why not run? Are they waiting for the supposed 'change in plan' by someone else in on it? I have got to figure out what else is going on besides their fondness to idiocy…_ Millions of questions were running through Nellie's mind but not a single bit of it showed on her face. If Nellie was good at only one thing, it was her job. She threw herself into her work because that is what it took to do what she was passionate about.

"We had something else in mind…" The head honcho stepped forward and took of his black ski mask. His garlic breath couldn't have been worse, that was for sure. Nellie began memorizing his features for the sketch artist and cross-reference. _White male, 6'1, 175 pounds, grey hair, thick black eye brows, small hazel eyes, distinctively large nose, dimples, normal sized ears with unique scar on the left ear, tattoo of an ace of spades on the side of his neck, and no wedding ring…_ Nellie's eyes were darting to and fro, catching every identifier she could remember.

"And what's that?" She asked, sitting up with a stern set in her shoulders. _You don't scare me pal…You're a dime a dozen, nothing new._

"We will let the hostages go and give you the money back, all we need is one thing…" He offered, stepping forward until he was right in front of Nellie. Damon stood up behind her and the dagger eyes moved from the escort to the leader.

"Name it. I'm sure the police department will be happy to comply." Nellie was genuinely curious now. _The robbers don't even want the money? What kind of robbers don't want money?_

"The hostages go free and leave with the money and your friend Gigantor over there, while you stay here." He reasoned.

"What? Why?" Damon protested.

"Nobody is talking to you…" The robber said and with that Damon stepped forward, defiance and anger coursing through his veins. He was going to lay out one of the robbers with a right hook but was stopped when a hand shot up across his chest, stopping any further progress. He gazed at Nellie confused. She communicated with her eyes that he should be patient and he stepped back.

"Not that I am not willing to comply but what I want to know is what will that gain you? A negotiator is practically useless if you give away your leverage…" Her words drenched in curiosity.

"Our boss would like a word with you. He knew robbing a bank would get you here. Although, bringing a partner was not expected." He explained.

"Dude you said too much…" One of the others complained.

"Who is your boss?" Nellie said, standing up to face him. "He can have a deal too if that's what you want."

"Like I am going to tell you that…plus, he doesn't need a deal. According to him, he only needs to talk to you." Nellie did not like where this was going. This had Silas written all over it.

"Give me a minute to discuss this with my partner." She said and without another word, she grabbed Damon's arm and hauled him across the bank, out of earshot of the bank robbers (or not robbers?).

"Does this sound like Silas to you?" She asked with no hesitation.

"Unfortunately, yes. How do you want to do this? If Silas is on his way, we need to leave, like now." Damon stated, intensity filling the space between them. Now they had a ticking clock over their heads to add to the pressure.

"Well we need to get the hostages out first and then if we pick them off one by one, we might not even need weapons. We can just take theirs. They are not professionals so it won't be too difficult. Just one problem." She said, whipping the sweat from her forehead.

"What could be worse than being stuck in a bank with trigger happy idiots hired by Silas?" He pushed. Nellie couldn't help but smile a little bit. If any situation is ever bad, Damon is definitely one to put into a sarcastic perspective.

"You realize they have been stalling this whole time right? Silas could already be here." Her eyes darted from corner to corner, scanning every inch of the bank. When Damon understood he began to look around too and then stopped. "What is it?" She asked him.

"Does your mark burn?" He asked, looking at her chest.

"Eyes are up here Damon." She waved.

"Calm down blondie, that is not what I am looking at." He huffed.

"No, my mark is not burning but so what? This really isn't the time." She huffed back.

"Well havn't you noticed that it only burns when _he_ is around. It doesn't burn with Stefan either, just Silas. Use it to our advantage." Damon suggested. _I can't believe I hadn't thought of that…_ She silently scolded.

"Well it has been slowly getting warmer." Worry began to fill her voice. "Alright, let's accept the deal. When the last hostage makes it out, you slam the door and duck. They will most likely start shooting when you don't leave." She finished, hands balling into fists.

"For once, I agree with you." He said with a sly smile. They walked over to the vault, Nellie's connection to Silas slowly heating up on her chest.

…..

Voices buzzed in Nellie's earwig as bullets flew from every angle. The Mystic Falls PD was frantically trying to develop a plan to help Nellie and Damon once they heard the first shots. Damon had slammed the door to the bank when the last hostage had been set free and shielded Nellie as they ran for cover. The robbers didn't get a single shot in Damon and Nellie was extremely appreciative for their bad aim because she had picked up a bullet from a practically empty gun that was lying on the ground and after looking at it, she realized it was modified with pieces of wood. Bullets like that could screw up a vampire pretty good. She just hoped they could get out before Damon got shot with one because he was already a pretty angry person, imagine if he got shot with a bullet that contained fragmented pieces of wood…_That sounds like a b-word fest to me…_ She silently cursed.

"Got any ideas? I can't see over this bookcase." Nellie yelled over the loud shots that echoed throughout the bank. The bank had a large dome for a ceiling, which only made the pops of the guns all the more louder.

"Well, there is six of them and two of us…I say pop a couple of those stray bullets you found in that gun the moron dropped and shoot them. Then we make a run for it." He explained, darting his head up to take a quick look at their locations.

"Sounds good." She said, doing exactly as he said. Neither Damon nor Nellie realized they worked this well together as a team until now. _Weird…_

She popped her head up and quickly let off accurate rounds. POP, POP, POP, POP. She ducked back down behind the bookcase, which was now filled with bullet holes.

"How many are left?" He asked, panting.

"2…" She said as she gathered more bullets. _Thank the moron who left this here when he went on a bathroom break…_ She loved morons at this point.

"Wait, are you telling me that you shot four of them with only four shots? No one is that accurate…" He argued.

"Pop your head up and take a look see…" She said sarcastically as bullets threatened the little stability the bookcase had left.

"Very funny…what now?" He asked.

"Well, I can't get the other two from this angle," she began, eyes intense, "I say we make a run for that other bookcase over there before this one gives way. I can shoot them from there too." She explained, Damon nodding.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded and they ran. It was a mere eight feet. Bullets buzzed passed her ears and she was almost there, Damon leading the way. She felt something hot slice through her leg just as she made it to the bookcase. She landed with anything but grace and scooted to safety next to Damon.

"Crap…" She squirmed. "Mother…jeez what is in those bullets?" She whined in pain. She had been shot before but it had been nothing like this. Every vein in her body was slowly rising in temperature as she put pressure on the wound. Realization washed over her and her face paled. "Poison…" She thought aloud. "Great, just what I need." Damon's sarcasm was rubbing off on her as her statement sounded nearly identical to his usual sarcastic outbursts.

"Can you make it out of this bank or do I need to take over?" He was good back up.

"No I got this." She said with a determined nod, cocking her gun on last time before jumping up from their new shelter and taking out the other two gunmen in less than two seconds. Two shots, two down.

"We're good." She said, returning to Damon's side with a satisfied smile. As he began to smile back, her face contorted with a mixture of pain, confusion, and paleness.

"Are you going to throw up? Do it that way…" He pointed.

"Damon…" She glanced down at her leg and then back up with a look he had never seen before, "something is really wrong." She began to breath heavy and the mark glowed through her shirt a bright red. "He's here…" she gasped, sinking onto the floor, gasping in pain. Damon began to pick her up but she just yelped in discomfort.

"You can't help her…" He heard a voice, which he extremely hated, echo through the bank. The clicking of heels on the marble tiles sounded a few feet away and Nellie pushed closer to Damon in fear. Damon reached for the gun but his hand was crushed underneath black boots. As Damon looked up, he saw the replica of his brother swing his leg toward his face. Silas' kick sent Damon skidding across the tile.

"Damon…" Nellie wheezed. She rolled over onto her stomach and was using what strength she had left to push away from Silas, blood dripping from her nose onto the tiles below. She heard familiar heels again and was rolled over into the arms of who was causing the burning in her chest.

"Let…go…of…me…" She slowly breathed out. Her body was on fire and she was losing her breath. She would probably be dead in a matter of minutes. Silas looked at her with a sad expression she didn't understand. He pulled her close and put his palm on her mark. She felt the burning sensation slowly fade but the rest of the pain was still there, keeping her from the oxygen she desperately needed.

"Stop…" She said, staring him straight in the eye. She had to fight not to give into her every instinct to trust him.

"Stop fighting me Nellie, it's useless…" He began but Damon charged and Silas shifted his attention for a split second. With once twitch of his eyebrow, he sent Damon soaring across the bank and into a wall that put Damon out of consciousness. Nellie jerked but made no progress. Silas' grip was tight and unmoving. His gaze returned to the curious concern his face had held before and he returned his palm to her mark. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, power radiating from his palms in the form of a reddish hue. Moments passed and Nellie felt the last of the poison leave her body. She was drained. Again. Shocker. She had no strength to fight with, her muscles aching for rest. Silas' grip was the only thing keeping her awake because she had the oddest sensation when he touched her, kind of like an electric current running between them, immediately dissipating when they separated. _What is happening?_ Scared of the possibilities to this question, Nellie didn't bother trying to answer it, she just searched his eyes for his next move. What she found in that search was complete and udder nothing. He was hiding everything from her. Not taking any chances.

"How do you feel?" He asked in a testosterone heavy voice.

"Like I want you to let go of me…" she fought with her words, which was all she had left to arm herself.

"Liar…" He smiled. He lifted her into the air and began to leave the bank through the back door.

"Let me go!" She gave a weak push. _Great… a tiny push and all your energy is gone already…_ she thought to herself in a panic.

"Has anyone ever told you that your nose scrunches up when you're mad?" He said slyly.

"Silas," she began, panting from all the energy it was taking her to keep up the conversation she wished she wasn't having, "please let me go." She used all the seriousness she could muster and he just stopped, looking at her.

"You barely even know who you are, let alone who I am and yet you still fight me…" He shook his head in irritation. "I don't know how else to show you that you need me…" She didn't want to seem intimidated but she was sure he felt the shiver course through her body. His arms were still tightly wrapped around her legs and lower back, carrying her to a car in the back parking lot.

"Why would I need you?" She asked calmly, trying not to show her normal defiance. He stopped mid step and looked up before glancing back at her.

"I am the only one who cares about whether you live or die…" He said, exhaling a breath of agitation. Nellie was obviously testing his nerves, which she did naturally.

"That's just because you need me to find something. Once I do that for you, you're just going to kill me, so if you don't mind, I would prefer you didn't lie to me." Fury rose in her voice. _Of course people care if I die and excuse me but I believe you just staged a robbery and got me shot…_ He let out a slight chuckle as they approached the car. Her head was swimming, the dizziness threatening to pull her into unconsciousness.

"Is that what you think?" He asked, smiling down at her as if she was trying to be funny. She sent him the most hatred filled glare she could manage without fainting. The smile drifted from his face and inhaled a large breath.

"I have no intention of killing you Nellie. After you help me find what I am looking for, I intend to do exactly the opposite."

Then everything went black.

TO BE CONTINUED….

**Well I hope you guys liked it! Give me some reviews and I will update before you know it! –JennaDiane**


	6. Descendant

**Author's note: Hey guys! I have had a crazy week with school but have been slowly writing this chapter! When Christmas rolls around, I will non-stop write to make it up to you **** Thanks again for the continued support from NicoleR85 and MysticStefan! Please leave reviews and enjoy **

Chapter 6: Descendant

Nellie could feel warmth radiating through cloth onto her cheek and her arm. She snuggled closer into what felt like her own personal toaster oven. Rumbling underneath her was what sounded like an American muscle car's engine making jet-black tires fly down an interstate. _So comfortable…_She mentally whined as she fought the urge to open her eyes. As they finally fluttered open, she realized she was in a car and it wasn't one she was familiar with. Looking to her left at the driver, and who she was sleeping on, she shot to the other side of the vehicle, hitting her forehead on the glass in the process. The quick motion brought back a familiar ache in her leg and she clutched it with her hand as she cursed to herself. _You were just snuggling with the enemy you moron… _

"Good morning sunshine", Silas said lightheartedly, "Oh I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of getting rid of your phone when we left Mystic Falls." He smiled playfully, while underneath she could feel his inner killer. Nellie just gazed at the passing trees outside the flying classic. _Or at least it looks like a classic from where I'm sitting…_ She thought.

"What kind of car is this?" Nellie asked, not even bothering to start the argument she knew she would lose. She would have her chance to escape eventually and when she did, he would never see her again. "61' Ferrari?" She guessed. He looked at her sideways but she held her stubborn gaze.

"Uh, yeah…1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyer…" He muttered, confused that a girl like her would even know cars. She rolled her eyes.

"Close enough… So, do you mind telling me where we are going? Why it is me that you won't leave alone? Why can't I go back to my new job that I was semi-enjoying?" She threw up her hands with exasperation, growing tired of this game. If he was going to kill her, he would have already done it, so her speech became more relaxed and blunt.

"Yes I mind. You will learn why it had to be you soon enough. You can't ever go back to your job because I need you here." He finished flatly. Nellie stopped breathing and looked down at her feet.

"What do you mean by 'ever'?" She asked, extremely worried she might never get to go home. He just gave her an emotionless face and kept driving. "Great…I get to go on a road trip with an enigma…that's just freakin' fantastic." She crossed her arms and continued her window watching.

…

"Damon, how could you let this happen?!" Matt screamed. Damon was five seconds away from ripping his head off.

"Like I let Silas take her on purpose! Don't be stupid, Matt! I would have done anything to keep that psycho from taking her but I wasn't enough!" He yelled back, the echo reverberating in Elena's bones. Damon stormed out of the front door of the Salvatore boardinghouse, keeping a quick pace straight for the woods surrounding the house. Elena knew where he was going. The graves were in those woods and when he was upset, that was his place of solitude. When she finally caught up, he was parked on a bench that was paces away from the grave of Alaric. It was a slightly awkward situation that Elena was an exact copy of Katherine, whose empty grave was also at this graveyard, but their personalities weren't the same so neither were Damon's feelings. He loved Elena but never in the same way he loved Katherine. Plus, Stefan already got dibs on Elena so Damon was forced to think of her in a different way and that has never changed. She wasn't quite like a sister to him but somewhere in that neighborhood. Elena gracefully sat down next to him, remaining completely silent.

"I really don't want to talk right now, Elena…" He said, shifting away from her.

"I know." She rested a hand on his shoulder and looked forward at the swaying trees. If Elena hadn't hated graveyards because of their constant remind of her lost loved ones, she might have come out to this grave more often. The trees let off a scent that made you want to ball up in the smooth grass and take a nap that lasted for days while the sun streamed through the trees, creating a blanket of warmth. Silence filled the air as they sat, unmoving.

"You think it's my fault too, don't you?" He muttered, breaking the quiet. Her brow immediately furrowed and she looked at him with her big brown eyes.

"Definitely not, Damon. Why would you think that?" She asked, her hand making slow circle motions on his shoulder for comfort.

"Everyone else does…I tried…he just flung me like ragdoll and then walked out with her. I came to long enough to see him…take…to see him take her." Guilt flooded every inch of his body. He was supposed to protect that stubborn little blonde and he let this happen. _She won't ever trust me again…smart girl…_ he thought.

"Damon, Silas is thousands of years old. There is no way you could have beat him by shear force. None of us could. You need to stop thinking about what you can't do and start thinking about what you can do. Nellie would want you to track her down and help her escape. Instead of relying on the guns-a-blazing technique, try something else." She reasoned, watching his blue eyes begin to illuminate with new ideas.

"You're right…but how…I don't even know where to start…" He started, ruffling a hand through his dark hair. She just smiled that elegant smile she always had.

"If you care about her enough, you will find a way. Plus, you have all of us." She said, tilting her head sideways when Damon sat up, face contorting with surprise.

"I don't _CARE_ for her…it's not like that Elena." He explained, slowly removing her hand from his shoulder.

"It doesn't have to be like _THAT_ for you to care for someone, Damon. Nellie was the only one who found your jokes at all humorous and she seemed to be able to tolerate your stubbornness pretty well for just meeting you." She smiled. "That's a sign of a real friend." She said, raising up off the bench and walking back toward the Salvatore house. She stopped and turned.

"Find her Damon. If not to get your friend back, then do it for Matt and the rest of us." She continued walking to the house, disappearing in the wood. Damon sat quietly, letting every idea run across his mind.

_Care for her? Yeah okay, Elena. Whatever you say. Anyway, how do I start? Silas doesn't usually leave a trail but there might have been people who may have seen him around town. Start there._ He came about a decision, stood up, and stomped off with determination to find Nellie. _A real friend…_ he tossed the idea around in his mind as he caught sight of his vehicle.

…

Nellie had asked to go to the bathroom at multiple stops. Having too much water and an excellent escape plan were both part of the frequent restroom breaks. At every stop, Nellie left a piece of clean toilet paper on the sink bowl with her initials on them, so Damon would know she was there. If Damon caught up on time, this might be helpful._ Relying on Damon to save myself? I gosh I'm going to be nauseous… _She thought to herself. However, she had to try and be as inconspicuous as possible because after the stunts she had pulled before, Silas wasn't taking any chances; he even stands outside the door while she goes to the bathroom. She heard banging come from outside the door.

"You almost done? We need to go now." He spoke sternly. They were at an abandoned station, which had a bathroom that needed a serious visit from a cleaning crew. Those were the only places Silas would stop at, to avoid giving Nellie a chance to make a scene.

"Yeah, just a sec…" She played with the sink a little to make it sound like she was washing her hands and then she decided it was probably a good idea to actually do so, this bathroom was disgusting. When she finished up, she hid the note on the bowl, exactly where she did last time, and opened the door. The sun had finally dropped from the sky, leaving the stars in its place. She couldn't help but gaze at them as Silas led her the car, firm grip on her elbow to keep her from running.

"Is that really necessary? It's not like I can get very far without your super speed catching up to me right?" His grip lessened but didn't let go.

"Like I'm going to take chances with a girl like you…" He pushed back, leading her to the passenger seat, dropping her inside the beautiful classic, and shutting the door. After hopping in the car, Nellie's interrogation continued.

"Okay, there is no way anyone is going to catch up to us quick enough to stop us from getting wherever it is that we are going, so why not tell me where we are going…" She made herself comfortable against the smooth leather.

"A friend's. She is going to help us figure out why the necklace chose you."

"What do you know about the necklace?" Her chin rested on her knees as she looked to Silas for the answers to her questions.

"Not much more than you do." He said quietly. She could feel his honesty. This weird conformational feeling when she tried reading people rose up and she knew he wasn't lying. _Another possible ability?_ She questioned.

"What's another possible ability?" He asked, curiously reversing the interrogation. Irritation grew on her face until it was all he could see.

"Why are you in my head?" Anger coated words came out of her mouth.

"Well, you don't say much about what you're thinking so it doesn't leave me with many options." Nellie was too busy putting all of her escape options in the back of her mind to pay attention to much of what he said.

"That doesn't give you the right to look through my thoughts, Silas."

"I'd be happy to make it even…" He said, offering up his thoughts. Silas had this wall he had up all the time. Nellie would know because she has tried to break it down before. But now that his thoughts were out in the open, she didn't really want to know what was in there. It wasn't like he would let her see the important stuff anyway.

"I really don't want to look inside your mind…"

"Afraid of what you might find?"

"No, I just don't need to see anymore of your ice-breaking-pick-up-lines…" He let out a laugh that echoed throughout the entire vehicle.

"Pick up lines? Really?" He asked, obviously amused she felt this way.  
>"Oh please! The eyes and the, the 'I'm the only who cares about you' crap. I'm am totally on to you," she said, pointing a finger aggressively, "you are not fooling anyone pal." Nellie was good at many things, but scaring Silas wasn't one of them.<p>

"Pal? So were pals now…I'll take that." He said, using the same eyes she was just calling him out on.

"See! That! Stop doing _that_!" She didn't like that he was always trying to charm her.

"Doing what?" He asked defensively, but somewhat joking at the same time.

"That, eyes and smile and handsome thing! Stop!" She said crossing her arms.  
>"Handsome thing?" Amused, his smile continued to widen.<p>

"You know what I mean! You know exactly what you are doing!" She said. He just continued to laugh his deep, full sounding laugh.

"Alright, I'll stop doing my…my 'thing'. You have to stop being so stubborn though. This is going to happen no matter what so you might as well make it easy on the both of us." He said, looking for her reaction. She shifted from side to side, considering the deal. She looked at him and then back at the road.

"Deal."

…

"That way?" Damon asked, completely confused.

"Yeah, that guy had the blonde chick with him and they drove that direction. Not hard to understand man." Damon's 'witness' was a total tweeker but he was the only one that saw Silas leave town. Damon shoved the fake MFPD badge back in his upper pocket and thanked him. He had one lead and it wasn't a good one. He had to try though. He owed it to Nellie. He jumped in his mustang and headed down the road, seeing multiple stops a long the way. _Come on Nellie…leave me something to go on…_ he thought aggravated. After a couple of hours or so of driving with nothing in sight, an abandoned gas station came into view and a thought popped into his head. He pulled over, black tires upheaving the dirt in the parking lot (or what was supposed to be one). Getting out, he did a walk around of the entire gas station, seeing nothing but nasty health hazards. Rounding the side of the building and coming back to the front of the station, he saw a sideways sign by an open door and took a chance. _If I were Nellie, I would have left a sign somewhere…_ He walked into the bathroom and put his arm over his nose as he scanned the room. _They call this a bathroom? _Damon couldn't stand the smell of the place. _Nothing in the stalls…_ that's when he noticed the toilet-paper-note on the underbelly of the sink bowl. He picked it up and looked at the letters scribbled in cherry Chap Stick: N.V. _Finally…I'm comin' Nellie…_ He sprinted from the bathroom, into the mustang, and the car shot forward, leaving only a trail of skid marks behind.

…..

"Your friend is a palm reader? Really?" Nellie doubted every person who said they had the power to tell your future by staring at your hand. Your hand doesn't tell you anything, it's just there. _Then again, vampires are real so why wouldn't palm readers be?_ This new supernatural world would take awhile to grasp.

"She isn't a palm reader, she is a witch." Nellie shot him a confused glance.

"A witch? Like Dorothy and the wicked witch, witch?" He just slanted his head, obviously not understanding the reference after being dead for so long.

"Yes, she is a witch. She specializes in bonds. I figured she could help." They continued to walk to the small cabin like building on the side of the interstate.

"Bonds?" She asked curiously. Before he could answer, the door swung open to reveal a gorgeous woman, with jet-black hair, green eyes, blood red lips, pale skin, and a stunning smile.

"Francesca, how have you been?" Silas asked, smiling back at the beauty.

"Oh Silas, it's been so long, darling. Why did you wait so long to visit?" She asked, and then she realized Nellie, a small, average (beautifully average) looking, blonde girl standing behind him. "And who is your friend?" She said distastefully.

"We need your help." He said, right to the point. She backed out of the doorway, adding a hand gesture for them to come inside. Silas grabbed Nellie's hand and pulled her close protectively. Nellie was getting some seriously bad vibes from this place so she kept her eyes peeled. Francesca led them to a table with what looked like a fake crystal ball in the center, surrounded by magenta tablecloth and burning incense. She gestured for them to sit down as she took a seat opposite them.

"What can I do for you?" She asked, an inquisitive expression tickling her face.

"I need you to figure out what exactly this necklace does," he said, handing it to her, "and why it did this." He gestured for Nellie to show Francesca the mark. Nellie just gave him a stern look. _I don't trust her…_ She pushed the thought into Silas' mind and hoped that her communication made it through.

_Do you want to figure this out or not?_ He telepathically said back. It made her wince when he pushed thoughts into her head. Her mind wasn't used to that kind of power playing around in there.

"No need," She said, the Russian accent beginning to surface in her speech, "I already know what it does…" She said, examining it.

"Tell me…" He said, scooting forward to look at it as well. Nellie stayed seated back. She did not want to get any closer to this woman.

"Well, it is a heredity amulet. It is passed down through generations with usually a specific task or job that needs fulfilled. When the owner dies, it resurfaces when the next generation of that line is called to the duty. When the new generation owner surfaces, the amulet burns a mark into the owner, signifying the bond between the owner and the amulet. What may take some time to figure out, is what heritage line it comes from. Then it may be possible to figure out why _she _is here."

"Could you also find out what connection she has to me?" He asked, eyes moving from the amulet to Francesca as she speaks.

"I'm sure the amulet will tell us that." She said deviously, sitting the amulet in the middle of the table and lighting candles at each corner.

"Are you sure you want to know?" She asked him, paying no attention to Nellie. Nellie just wanted her necklace back. She had grown strangely protective of it when Francesca began to inspect its smooth surface.

_Silas we should go…_ Nellie had a strangely horrible feeling rising up in her chest and she was so close to getting up and leaving. She couldn't because Silas still had his hand wrapped around her arm, the grip ever tightening.

"Yes, I want to know." He replied, completely ignoring Nellie's warning.

Francesca's eyes began to swell with the color of magenta as she chanted in witch gibberish. Nellie's mark began to heat up and Silas paid no attention. Francesca began to speak in English after moments that felt like hours.

"Nellie Vallencia is a descendant of the powerful one." Francesca's voice was distorted with an evil, dark, and deep sound. Nellie stopped breathing heavy and just stared, not believing the sound this woman just made.

"A descendant of who?" Silas pushed. "Why is she bonded to me?"

"Nellie Vallencia is a descendant of Qetsiyah."

TO BE CONTINUED….

**Thanks for reading guys! Please leave reviews and let me know if you liked the ending! XD**


	7. Houdini

**Author's note: ****Hey guys! It's been a hectic couple of weeks and will continue to be as I make my way to finals week. But, I managed to get a chapter written! Warning: this is a semi-filler chapter but I promise it will pick up soon. I just have to lay some ground information first before I can continue with the story. Thanks again for the continued reviews by NicoleR85 and MysticStefan! I encourage others to leave reviews as they help me write better! Thanks and enjoy **

Chapter 7: Houdini

Silas' face embraced a new expression, one that Nellie had never seen before. Not only was her every instinct screaming at her to not be where she was but now Silas was speechless and lost. _This cannot be good…_

"That's impossible. If she were a witch than I would know it. Witches can tell when other witches are near." He fought. Silas obviously did not want to accept what Francesca was telling him.

"She is not a witch," said the dark voice enveloping Francesca's true sound. Silas turned his head, glancing at Nellie like she was something he had never seen before. He turned back to Francesca, grip remaining tight.

"Then what is she?" Bewilderment was beginning to lace his words. _What do you mean 'what am I?' I'm a girl. A human…this isn't happening._ Nellie wasn't one to panic but she could feel the unwanted pressure rising within her. The annoying pain that rises up when you are extremely stressed.

"Qetsiyah created a lineage tasked with the protection of the key. The amulet is a simple talisman used to identify the next guardian in line." Francesca's voice went from dark to dark and scratchy, as if the signal was weakening. Silas noticed this as well and began shooting questions rapidly.

"What does the key do exactly? What does being a guardian mean?" He was scooting to the edge of his seat; hanging on every word that poured from whatever spirit Francesca was gripping tight.

"The key opens a doorway to…the…" Francesca began to choke, wrapping her hands around her throat and gasping for air. Silas launched his arms across the table to grip Francesca's shoulders, at which point he began to shake her angrily.

"OPENS THE DOORWAY TO WHAT?" He bellowed, aggravation seething his insides. Nellie stood up, realizing she had been released. She stepped back, not wanting to hear what this woman was going to say. Her right palm shot to her forehead as she felt this caged spirit's power reaching a peak, which felt like a wedge being shoved between her eyes.

"The…other…si…" Francesca was fighting to get out the last words but there was no need. Silas apparently heard enough because he let her go, staring, jaw-dropped, at the woman before him. Francesca stopped writhing and for a moment, she was completely still, almost statue like. Suddenly, her green eyes began to glow a violet purple and her posture straightened. She became what seemed to be a whole new personality.

"Hello, Silas." Francesca's voice became different. The familiarity of the voice pinged at the back of Nellie's mind, as if she knew the sound by heart.

"Qetsiyah…" Silas growled.

…..

The vintage mustang shot past the stop signs as if they weren't in existence. Damon's foot was pressed completely down on the gas pedal, taking him farther down the interstate. He had found six notes in bathrooms along the way and hadn't found anymore which he knew meant that he either missed where Silas and Nellie got off, Nellie got caught, or he was just about to find where they were. For his own sake, he placed his bets on his last option. Hope. Hope he would find Nellie soon and she would no longer be in danger because of him. Guilt didn't usually tear at Damon quite as much as it was now. It was as if guilt was a lake and he was drowning. He had to find her or he might never be the same. With that reality circulating in his mind, he began to put pressure on his foot but there was nowhere left for the pedal to go. It was down all the way.

_Elena was right…friends don't leave each other behind…_

…

"I see you have successfully located a guardian." Qetisyah (in Francesca's body) glanced at Nellie who was pressed against the wall, heating up like a furnace but it wasn't her chest this time. The heat felt like energy, swirling around inside her. It felt powerful.

"Why did you create Guardians? You knew I would find the key one-day. Thanks to you, I have forever to look." Silas sat back down, facing off Qetsiyah with a sad excuse for sarcasm. Her expression showed that she wasn't the slightest bit amused. Qetsiyah slammed a hand down on the table so hard that the fake crystal ball jumped off its holder, rolled off the table, and shattered against the rough wood below.

"I will do anything to keep you from the Other Side Silas! You are not getting it back ever!" Qetsiyah was howling so loud that Nellie had to cover her ears for fear of her eardrums giving way.

"Why can't you let me go in peace?!" He bellowed back. Nellie couldn't take this anymore. She bolted from the cabin out into the open air outside, inhaling every bit of oxygen she could. Her mind was screaming for the one person she knew was coming for her. _DAMON? If you can hear me, please hurry! I can't take much more!_ She was holding on to the same thing Damon was. Hope. Gripping her hope with every bit of fight she had left, she ran back from where she came, feet pounding against the pavement toward what she hoped would be a 1964 Ford Mustang.

…

Damon winced with pain as he felt a voice rip through his mind. "_DAMON? If you can hear me, please hurry! I can't take…"_ Then his eyes opened as the voice faded. He knew it was Nellie. Every fiber within him told him so. "I'm comin', Nellie. Just hold on a little longer." He said aloud as his hands rubbed the wooden steering wheel.

….

Nellie began to hear a different pattern of stomping. The rhythm of her own running had already set in her mind and so when another beat chimed in she knew it couldn't be good. _Don't look back! Just keep running…_she coached herself. But her mix of worry and curiosity got the best of her and she craned her neck to get a quick look at what was behind her.

"Nellie, STOP!" Silas was charging after her, Qetsiyah (Francesca) trailing not far behind. Nellie willed her legs to keep running and if they could go any faster, that was definitely what she was screaming at them to do. The sound of Silas' run began to seem closer and louder the farther she ran. He was gaining on her. She knew at that moment that she couldn't outrun him. It was humanly impossible. _What are my options?!_ She forced her panic to evacuate and began to think with her training, not her emotions. Instincts beginning to consume her thoughts, she began to sense the surge of untrained energy she had swirling inside of her, she knew what she had to do. She stopped in her tracks and turned. The space between Nellie and Silas was quickly closing. Silas kept running despite his confusion at why Nellie stopped running and the vicious look that shadowed her every feature. Nellie rubbed her palms together and saw a bluish energy form a sphere-like shape between her palms. _Concentrate…_ Concentrating at full capacity, she made the ball of energy grow in size until it was the size of a beach ball. Her gaze shifted up toward Silas who had stopped running a couple of yards away. His gaze just stared at the energy pulsing from her fingertips. Behind Silas, Nellie could see Qetsiyah about three times the distance away, with a smile widening on her face. She felt the elegant voice force it's way into her head, forcing blood from her nose. _"Protect the key at all costs. You have so much power, once it's tapped into, you won't ever go back. Use it. It will keep you, the key, and all the things you care about, safe."_ With that, Francesca's body collapsed, Qetsiyah's spirit ascending to the sky. Nellie's eyes burned with anger at the man who threatened Matt. Nearly every instinct she had told her Qetsiyah was right. She heard screeching tires behind her and she knew her ride to safety would be here momentarily, giving her all the reassurance she needed. She took a vigorous stance and did what her nature was compelling her to. From her core to her arms to her fingertips, she pushed with one sweeping motion and the sphere of energy left her palms and flew right for Silas. He had turned to run but he was too late. The sphere collided with Silas' back and imploded.

…

"So?"

"So what?"

"What's happening?" Damon kept pushing despite Nellie's obvious inclination not to talk about it. She just shifted in her seat, paper towel soaking up the blood dripping from her nose.

"Well…how about the simple explanation of 'we are so screwed'," she said with hand quotations. Catching his look of 'cut the crap', she sighed and looked toward the gravel road and the yellow dashes dashing underneath the mustang. "Okay well, do you know who Qetsiyah is?" She asked, weary of what more could get worse.

"Please tell me she isn't involved…" Damon said, raking a hand through his hair in exhaustion. He had been chasing down every lead that might have led to Nellie and even though vampires didn't necessarily need sleep, he had become accustomed to getting it. Nellie winced a little and slowly shifted her gaze to him, hoping he wouldn't get too upset.

"Not exactly…" She said with a tiny don't-kill-the-messenger-smile.

"Be upfront with me." He warned. She knew being up front is what she would want too if she were in his situation so she took a deep breath and came clean.

"Well, I am Qetsiyah's descendant from a special lineage she created specifically tasked to protect a key to the other side from Silas. I was given special abilities to fulfill this purpose and until Silas dies, which is technically never, I will be constantly running from him so he can't get his hands on this stupid key." When she finally finished, Damon noticed she was looking at her hands. _How the heck did I do that?_ She thought to herself, rubbing her right palm with her left thumb. The energy gave her hands a sort of invisible burn that was slowly deteriorating. The power scared her. At first, this 'energy' seemed like a gift she was given to protect herself and now it just seemed like some form of uncontrollable essence that Qetsiyah decided to activate. She didn't like it one bit. Her feelings were reflecting on her facial features and Damon knew that look. When he had turned into a vampire, the uncontrollable urge to feed didn't necessarily bother him until he was forced to turn his emotional switch back on. Nellie saw Damon giving her a look of pity and she snapped.

"Look Damon! I don't need pity. I need a new town, a new detective job, and a better way to hide my thoughts from Silas. Nothing ELSE!" She plopped back in her seat after she was finished taking her anger for Silas out on the one person who was her friend.

"I don't intend on pitying you but you are staying in Mystic Falls. At least until I can train you with better skills than the police academy gave you." His words came out flat and monotone, which only showed that there would be no changing his mind.

"Damon, I know you are only trying to help but I think moving to another town will keep all of you safe and give me a chance to start fresh."

"Start fresh? Please…" He shot his head in her direction sarcastically. "You are running from him, which is exactly what he expects. That isn't going to help. You at least need someone watching your back."

"What and suddenly you want to be that person? Damon you wanted to kill me when I first got here." She wanted to take it back as soon as she said it. He had saved her and she should be showing more appreciation. "I didn't mean…"

"Yes you did. But that's fair. When you first got here, I thought you were bad news. But I was wrong." His head turned back to the road. "You are training. End of discussion." Normally, Nellie would have fought back but what was the use? She knew she wanted to stay in Mystic Falls if they would have her.

"Can I just ask one thing though? One favor?" She pleaded.

"Depends…" He began nervously.

"I want to go back to work. I don't mind training but Damon, I'm the kind of girl who can't sit around the house. I NEED to go back to work." She reasoned, rotating in her seat to face him again, blue eyes wide.

"Okay, fine. We can send someone in to keep an eye on you." His glance showing he was somewhat impressed. _Finally, a woman who isn't scared to go about the normal routine…that is one thing Elena is not the best at._ It was true. Every time something happened, Elena would stay at the boardinghouse, in Stefan's room, and not go back to school and Damon did not like the house crowded. Space was the reason he paid for the utilities every month (by pay he meant compulsion of the right people). The boardinghouse was a place to go when everything outside was aggravating him. He snapped out of his thought and caught Nellie looking at him.

"What?" He asked curiously.  
>"I was just thinking… you were good back at the bank and we work together well right? Why don't you be my partner?"<p>

_Can't argue with that logic…_ he thought.

….

"Good to see you back, Vallencia; although, you missed the rush. For a while there, it seemed the town had gone haywire." Sheriff Forbes was walking Nellie and Damon back to her office.

"Heads up Vallencia!" A fellow officer named Nick Burge was throwing a hoagie her way. Even though she hadn't been employed at the station that long, she had gotten used to the flying sandwiches and was starting to like them. It seemed Nick knew what kind of sandwich she liked before even she did. He did eat a lot of food though so he probably knew a good sandwich from a bad one. Nellie caught the sandwich above her head without even looking, it becoming routine.

"Thanks, Nick! Beers on me man." She said as she continued into Sherriff Forbes office. She could hear Damon chuckling behind her. Nellie had to admit that her work friends were pretty interesting. But he could definitely not complain because they were about to become his work friends.

"Shut the door, would yah?" Forbes sat down and began to shuffle some papers around on her desk and Nellie sat down in one of the two chairs that were in front of her wooden desk, Damon shutting the door and occupying the other seat.

"So, I want to get this straight before we get started," Forbes began, "You want to train a partner and you want this partner to be Damon?" Nellie just nodded and Damon looked fake-insulted. "Oookay, well first thing is first then, Damon you will need to go through official police training before I can put you on the job."

"Really? I have super human strength and speed and you're worried about police training?" Damon wasn't trying to be insulting, he did that naturally, but he was just surprised the Sherriff would waste that kind of time with all that was going on.

"Not physical training, Damon. I opted to let you test out of that. You need to go through the certain guidelines that we follow at MFPD and you need to sit through at least five classes dealing with limits of arrest and laws to be followed." Nellie began to chuckle when Damon's face broke into an irritated I-hate-school-look. "Why are you laughing Vallencia? He is your partner now. Have fun in seminar." Now Damon was chuckling because Nellie's face had mimicked his previous look of irritation.

"When do we start?" Nellie asked.

"Now. Your first seminar class starts in 5. Oh and Vallencia?" Sherriff Forbes asked as Damon and Nellie were gathering their gear. Nellie turned back to her.

"Yes?" Nellie was trying to contain a laugh while Damon was trying to holster his gun. He was doing it all wrong. She knew this was going to be an interesting ride; Damon and her, partners in crime, literally.

"Your seminars only last today. I expect you and Damon to report for duty on time tomorrow and be ready for on scene work. One town over found a body and it might be our jurisdiction."

"Got it. We'll be ready."

…..

"How was school, kids?" Stefan laughed from the cushy brown sofa in the boardinghouse living room.

"Very funny, Stefan." Damon was not amused but he would also never admit that he learned a lot in those seminars. He now realized why cops couldn't do their jobs sometimes. All of these rules. All of the time. It was no wonder nothing gets done quickly.

"I can have any room?" Nellie was following Damon inside, who was carrying nearly all of her boxes with one arm. _Show off…._she thought.

"Yeah. I would recommend the farthest one though because Stefan and Elena aren't exactly quiet if you know what I mean?" Damon said mischievously. Stefan's embarrassed face returned to his book.

"I did not need to hear that Damon. But in the spirit of partnership, I will take your advice." Nellie began ascending the stairs with a surprising number of boxes. She was getting her strength back and she knew now only to use the mini-bombs she had in an emergency. It was still unclear what happened to Silas. He just disappeared. They weren't lucky enough for him to be dead and something she would never admit was that somewhere deep inside, she knew he couldn't be dead. After all of the things he put her through, that slight connection was still there, telling her he wasn't gone. She pushed the connection back down, as far as possible. If he was still alive, she needed to avoid thinking about him. Thinking about him only made the connection stronger. Nellie continued down the long hallway, followed by Damon. Their boardinghouse was extremely nice and looked like it had a lot of stories to tell. At the end of the hallway there were two more rooms. Nellie began to open the farthest door and Damon whistled to get her attention.

"Hey, that's my room. Yours is right there." He finished, pointing at the door a couple feet away from his. She began to wonder why he wanted her to stay in the room right next to his and she guessed it was to keep an eye on her. She knew he still felt slightly guilty about the Silas kidnapping and she also knew he was a suspicious person. She was still on his probationary period, where he didn't fully trust her yet. That feeling was definitely mutual. Nellie turned the doorknob, almost dropping the boxes, and it creaked open to reveal a ridiculously nice room. She took a couple steps inside and dropped the boxes, taking in the humongous room. It had wooden floors, a bed near the back wall with an ivory colored comforter set and matching curtains, her own bathroom off to the side that was the size of her old room, and her favorite part: a window seat where she could read.

"If you don't like it, the others rooms are set up different." Damon huffed as he set down the six boxes he was carrying. Those weren't light boxes either.

"Damon this is….AWESOME!" She ran and jumped on the bed, landing face first in the fluffiest pillows she had ever laid her face on. Well…more like smashed her face into.

"Glad you like it. Get dressed. We have work to do." He said, turning to leave. She jumped up, acting slightly childish by using the bed as a trampoline.

"What do you mean work? We just got home from work. Can't we have one day off?" She held her hands up in a praying position and pleaded.

"Hey, I just sat through all of those ridiculously long seminars. Time to have some fun." His grin said it all. He was going to beat the crap out of her; in a good way of course.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" She jumped of the bed and began walking to the box with her gear in it. He let out a laugh as he continued to exit.

"Oh you'll like this alright."

TO BE CONTINUED…..

**So I hope you liked it! I am aiming for more crime solving to be thrown into the mix so let me know if that's what you guys want to read! Leave suggestions or just comments but either way, I would really like some reviews, they really do mean a lot to me! **


	8. Partners

**Author's note: ****Hey guys! I am really excited about this chapter! I left you a treat at the end **** This is how most chapters are going to be. I really like that Nellie and Damon investigate together so we shall see where it goes. I am currently on Thanksgiving break so I actually had time to write a chapter I really like **** Please leave reviews! Enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Partners

_These sheets are so warm and cozy…_ Nellie's eyes popped open to see orange leaves floating down gracefully outside her window. She rose out of bed, revealing her baggy red pajama pants and white top on her way to the window. The cool air was inching through the cracks in the old window, making Nellie's bruises and sore muscles ache more. Damon and Nellie had their first training session yesterday and man, she has never been flipped over more times in her life than she was yesterday! She would charge at him and he would sidestep, grab her waist, and flip her over. Every time. _One of these days Salvatore…_she thought as she sauntered to her new bathroom, _this is huge…_, and began washing her face and brushing her teeth. Her toothbrush even came off fancy in this place. The boardinghouse had an old elegance, an old kind of fancy that only a few really appreciated. _So, today should be interesting. First day on the job with a partner…that's new. At least you can trust him now, right? And he is becoming slightly more tolerable…you know if Silas ever shows up, you'll be glad Damon is around. Stop thinking about Silas. For now, you're safe. We have a body to examine, suspects to interview, and a case to solve!_ Nellie got excited just thinking about it! She loved her job and she had never had a partner before. After dressing in a white button down (which Damon called her nerd shirt) and nice blue jeans, she threw her gear on top of it. Their every day gear was a Kevlar vest with MFPD embroidered on the chest pocket, a jacket (for chillier days) with MFPD ironed on the back, a gun holster that attaches to any common belt, a gun to go in that holster, and finally, a badge. Nellie loved having a badge. Every day, she woke up and attached her badge to her belt with a sense of pride in what she did day in and day out. She did have an addition to her gear most didn't know about and that was a dagger that had been left to her by her father before her parents dropped her off at a foster home and never came back. She didn't keep the dagger because of her father (he did abandon her!), she kept the dagger as a sign of the strength she has had since then. After hiding the dagger in her ankle holster, she grabbed her kit from the antique nightstand along with the case file and headed out the door. She descended the stairs and looked past the wooden rails to see Damon in the living room, struggling with his vertical shoulder holster (the kind that crisscross in the back and display the guns on the rib cage). Nellie couldn't contain her little chuckle.

"I heard that…" Damon sighed, frustrated.

"You cannot already be this frustrated… we haven't even started yet…"

"Well this damn holster…" He began to say.

"Jeez…just let me." Before Damon could protest she was already taking it off him to put it on the right way.

"First, you put it on backwards to start with but you had the right idea. There yah go. You will get used to it, it just takes time or whatever." She said, finishing with the thumbreak snaps that tightly concealed the two guns he had on both sides of his rib cage. "You got the rest of your gear?" She asked and he gave her an exhausted look.

"Yes, for the last time yes…" Damon said, heading for the door, Nellie in front of him.

"Sorry, I just like…" She began.

"To be prepared. Yeah, I figured that out awhile ago." He explained, popping the trunk to his 64' and throwing their gear inside. Nellie landed in the low set, but comfy seat and turned the radio on to the classic rock station. Damon slid into his seat with the grace of a vampire (like a cat always landing on its feet, vampires were nearly always graceful) and revved up the engine.

"Cold As Ice? Really, Nellie?" He whined, heading out to the main road. The boardinghouse was kind of in the middle of the woods, which Nellie liked because it was a good escape.

"How do you not like Foreigner?" She asked, taken aback. Damon usually liked classic rock and Foreigner was one of the best!

"I like real classic rock…I'm not sure what this is…" He turned off the radio. "Agree to disagree. I am the driver though so I elect that we just turn it off." Damon's frustration was returning, confusing Nellie.

"Why are you so moody this morning? Stefan put Midol in your coffee again?" She asked, chucking. Stefan was an awesome prankster and Nellie hoped that one day she would be as clever as him in that department. Damon's head snapped in Nellie's direction.

"He told you about that?" Damon gasped. Nellie looked out the window, trying to lie to the walking lie detector that was Damon.

"Uh..no, of course not." When she finally looked at him, she gave him a slight smile. "It's not a big deal, just a joke man. Oh look, turn right here." Nellie was happy they finally arrived to the scene. She might have just accidently thrown Stefan under the Damon-is-going-to-strangle-you-bus. After Damon parked, they both got out, went to the trunk, and grabbed their gear simultaneously, already operating like an experienced team. The crime scene was in the small set of wood behind the Mystic Falls High School, a young girl had been strangled to death and then dragged to her shallow grave. Damon and Nellie approached the attending officer, flashed their badges, and he lifted the yellow tape to let them pass. Crunching the fall leaves underneath their feet, the young girl's body slowly came into view. Nellie hated when the victim was someone so young. She would always think of what kind of life they would have had if they had lived.

"She was so young…" Nellie thought out loud. An officer tasked to watch over the scene until the investigators arrived turned when he heard Nellie.

"Yes mam', she was only 15. Whoever this was, they were sick in the head." Nellie saw his nametag. Officer Wallace.

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously, setting down her case full of her equipment.

"Well before the coroner left, he told us that this girl showed signs of recently being severely beaten, you know, with defense wounds and all that. Poor girl never stood a chance." Officer Wallace finished, stepping a couple feet back as Damon made his way to the other side of the girl.

"Well thank you officer, we can take it from here." With the tip of his hat, he walked away, heading to the other officers guarding the yellow tape boundary. Nellie opened her hard-shell black case and pulled out her latex gloves along with her standard issue Nikon camera. Standing up, she took the scene in as one big picture, trying to decide where to start first. _I'll start with the body and work my way out…perhaps the drag marks next? Maybe there are other ones I haven't noticed yet. _She kneeled down towards the body, taking a close range shot of the bruises on her face, then slowly moving down to the girl's bruised knuckles and cracked finger nails. This girl fought hard and for good reason. The skin of her killer was most likely underneath her fingernails.

"Damon?" She asked, working her camera lens down towards the girl's feet, taking the last of the close up shots.

"Yeah?" Damon's voice sounded farther away then Nellie had expected and she lifted her head to see where he had gone off to. After scanning the woods, she saw him walking towards her from the other side of the woods, head down and looking at his camera.

"Where did you go? Did you find something?" He was a natural and she appreciated that he was looking at every angle. Two eyes are better than one as they say.

"I wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything. MFPD isn't exactly super thorough. But I checked out every part of the woods to each of the high ways and nothing. It must have ended with her being dragged and then the guy probably exited the way he came." Nellie smiled slightly. She was going to ask how he was able to scan so much wood so quickly but he had the whole super speed thing, which would come in handy.

"Oh well, good job. Uhm, do you have a swab?" She asked, she had forgotten her new swabs while replacing her case with new materials. They were probably still laying on the Salvatore's coffee table.

"Yeah," he said, grabbing one out of his case, "you find something?" He kneeled down beside her and she couldn't help but notice a cologne like scent. _Damon wears cologne?_

"Yeah, see right here," she pointed at her fingers, "if you take a picture of her hands and zoom in, you can see that she has a little bit of skin under her finger nails. If the person that did this to her already has a record, we might get a match in the MFPD system." Nellie took the swab from Damon and carefully took the sample with the swab. Swabs weren't the conventional method for skin samples but Nellie preferred it because the little bit of moisture on the swab would make the skin cells stick and more of the sample would be saved. "But there is also the possibility that this will lead to a friend or relative. It is always good to check though." She pushed the plastic cap shut over of the swab and set in her case. "Get any pictures?" She wondered.

"Yeah, I got a couple from the other side. Different perspective and all that." Damon explained. He was doing pretty well for the first time. Nellie could even see that he was slightly interested in the job. She hoped it would become something he enjoyed doing rather than something he did just to keep an eye on her. Her job was extremely rewarding and they needed more investigators in the world.

"Good. We will review them back at the house later. Now the preliminary briefing file stated that she was a student at the high school, as if that wasn't obvious, and she was quite involved in school, so we should be able to get a good idea of her daily schedule from her friends and what not. Coroner said time of death was around one o'clock this morning. Do you have an idea why she might be out that late? Is that what kids do around here?" Nellie was never one to stay awake past eleven, let alone one o'clock in the freaking morning.

"High school football game bonfires. It's some kind of tradition. Elena and Stefan used to do them all the time." Damon mockingly said.

"Oh, well that might be the explanation then. She was a cheerleader. Although, she is on the freshmen team, why would she have cheered at a varsity game?" Nellie didn't understand much about cheerleading but she used to hear the freshmen cheerleaders at her high school whine about not getting to cheer at varsity games. She didn't understand the point of cheerleading but some of the girls she met that were cheerleaders were nice so she just left it alone.

"Doesn't mean they don't go to the bonfires." Damon reasoned. Nellie gave an agreeing nod.

"So her defense wounds look pretty extensive which means she fought pretty hard but that doesn't help much. This guy didn't leave much behind. The skin cells probably aren't his if he was a pro. So if I were to go through the trouble of dragging the girl here, why not bury her deeper? Maybe he was rushed? Someone might have been coming towards the woods and he had to quickly bury the body?" Nellie was brainstorming out loud, which was something Damon would just have to get used to. He didn't think out loud, his thoughts were usually meant for himself. This whole partner thing was new to him. The longest time he had ever spent with a girl he wasn't sleeping with was at the car dealership, waiting to get his new keys. Although, he didn't really look at Nellie that way. He had noticed that she was a simple type of pretty but never took into account her being a girl because she punched like a guy. She also wasn't dramatic like most girls, usually kept to her self and was as stubborn as an ox.

"Or he wasn't a pro and those are his skin cells, hence the shallow grave. If he wasn't experienced, he might not have expected anyone to stumble along her shallow grave." Damon gave her a questioning glance before glancing back at the girl's body. Nellie pulled out her handheld fingerprint PDA and scanned the girl's finger. When the scanning search was finished, the girl's rap sheet popped up on the small screen.

"This girl has some vandalism charges but nothing major. Name is Gabriela Vandervort. Everything else is in the briefing file. Her rap sheet says she vandalized the Turner's house down on Starkensen street. We may want to check out why. Just to be sure." Nellie suggested, putting the fingerprinting PDA back into the case.

"Sounds good." Damon agreed, putting his camera back in its case and snapping the latch shut.

"Hey, one sec." Nellie snapped a picture of Gabriela's pocket. Setting the camera down, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small note. It read "MEET ME AT THE BONFIRE. SEE YAH TONIGHT." Nellie picked up the camera and took a picture of the unfolded note and then placed it in an evidence bag. "Looks like she knew her attacker. That narrows down the possibilities considerably." She checked the rest of the pockets and when she came up empty, she waved over the coroner to let him finish his job and take the body to the morgue for the autopsy. Gathering up their equipment, Damon and Nellie headed back the mustang.

"We still don't have motive." Damon noted.

"Well that tends to come after we know more about the victim like what they have that someone could gain, like money. I've noticed that when teenagers are involved, it is usually about jealousy and drama. Who stole who's boyfriend and who stole someone else's popularity. Dumb stuff like that means a lot to most kids in high school who just want to fit in."

"Are you serious?" Damon stared at Nellie in surprise. She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's true. When its young adults, their hormones are going haywire and emotions like anger rise to extremely high levels when it comes to interference in relationships. When you get older, things like that aren't as important. I have worked a case where a girl killed her best friend because of a guy. Such a waste to go to prison for." Damon and Nellie threw their gear back in the mustang and plopped in.

"I couldn't agree with you more. Anyway, where to next?" If Nellie didn't know any better she would say Damon was excited.

"Well, we have some paper work to fill out and some samples to deliver to the forensics team, so to the station it is. We will talk to the victim's friends tomorrow because it seems they have already been released from school."

….

Nellie had every picture and file on Gabriela Vandervort sprawled out on the kitchen table of the Salvatore Boardinghouse. She had a simple notebook next to her, scribbling notes inside, she continued to scrutinize the photos. They had retraced the drag marks and they led to the bonfire site, which didn't help at all because practically the whole school attended. She had noticed something that she didn't see at the scene and that was the bruising on her neck, which looked to be hickey. She hadn't noticed it among the slight strangulation bruising that sort of hid everything else. The coroner didn't want to guess at cause of death because he liked to go off of solid evidence but Nellie's best guess was that she was strangled to keep quiet after getting beaten. After hours of looking at these photos, she hadn't found anything else. This guy wasn't a pro, which soon became obvious because of the shallow grave and how close the body was to the bonfire site but he had been lucky enough to not leave much behind and no prints on the note. Nellie's thought process was interrupted as Damon entered the kitchen, no longer wearing the gear that Nellie had forgotten to take off when she got home.

"Are you still looking at those? I know you said you bring your work home but jeez…you probably won't find anything until you look away for awhile." Nellie knew he was right. She never had anything better to do usually so it didn't matter if she looked at them all night but now they had paper work they didn't finish at the office. Damon had slid into the seat next to hers, closing the file after placing all the photos inside, and replacing it with a beer and his paperwork.

"You wanna' work? Do my work." He said with a cocky smile. She pushed the stack of papers back in front of him.

"Yeah, no. You do your own work. I have plenty of my own. But thanks for the beer." She said as she opened her packet of paper work. She had to write up her initial report of her findings at the scene and possible leads as well as what she planned to do next. She took a swig of her beer and began writing her report, Damon following suit. _He is really getting the hang of this…_ Nellie had no idea he would be so good at her job but hey, the more the merrier. However, they were interrupted when Elena came into the kitchen in just her underwear and Stefan's shirt, not realizing they were both doing their work on the island table at the back of the kitchen.

"Well you look comfy…" Damon said, his usual sarcasm soaking his words. Nellie was beginning to understand why he did that. When things bothered Damon, such as his brother's girlfriend running around the house in her underwear, he hid whatever anger or discomfort he felt with witty sarcasm. Of course, he would never admit to it so she wouldn't bring it up.

Elena whirled around realizing she wasn't alone and attempted to cover her self with a napkin that was lying on the counter.

"Oh wow. This is slightly awkward…I'm going to um…well go back upstairs. Good to see you again Nellie." She waved quickly, making a speedy exit.

"Always a pleasure Elena!" Nellie yelled after her. After being on a sports team in college, Nellie was used to seeing her fellow team mates in their under garments and it didn't bother her anymore. Nellie started to laugh a little when Damon shifted in his seat.

"Does that happen often?" She asked, trying to contain the chuckle that forced Damon's irritated look. "What? You should like half naked women running around your house. Isn't that like every guys dream or whatever?" Damon finally broke the hard stare and chuckled a little.

"It's a little different when it's your brother's girlfriend. But I'm curious, what do you think is every guy's dream?" Damon was finally starting to open up a little bit.

"Well, you know, the usual mid-life crisis stuff like a new sports car, perky young girlfriend, a big house, enough money to fill a swimming pool, and a big TV. Most of the guys at work explain it like that." Nellie explained herself. Damon shrugged.

"Doesn't sound too bad. Although, I already have the swimming pool of money." He smirked. Nellie just grinned. _Only Damon would have a swimming pool full of money…_

"Well, you were right, I can't look at this anymore. I'm gonna' hit the sack. Thanks for the beer." She thanked him as she got up to leave the kitchen.

"No problem. Are we going to the high school tomorrow?" He said, getting up to leave as well.

"Yeah, I think it's a pretty good place to start. We can't investigate too much without having an idea of what the girl was really like." Nellie said, leading the way up the stairs.

"Alright. Same time tomorrow?" He asked, opening his bedroom door and glancing at Nellie.

"Yup. Night." She yawned and shut her door. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, throwing on her pajamas before going to bed.

…

Nellie could feel a hard pillow underneath her but somehow it was comfortable. Warmth surrounded her and a smell of lavender and fresh flowers filled her nose. She felt a strong arm on her back, holding her in a warm embrace. She just snuggled closer, enjoying every bit of the physical attention. _Wait…I went to bed alone…_ She looked up and saw her kidnapper. Silas was in her bed.

"HOLY CRA…" The last bit of her curse was lost under her breath as she jumped out of bed. She looked down and thanked God that she was wearing her pajamas. "What the hell? How did you get into the house? How are you even alive?" His beautiful smile widened. Nellie hated to admit but somehow Silas was just gorgeous. He was witty, intelligent, muscular, and sexy all at once. _But he is evil…remember?_ Her mind was fighting the attraction she knew that she felt. He slipped out of the bed and took steps toward her, making her take steps back. This time, he didn't stop taking steps forward. Nellie stopped short when she felt her back against a wall. She didn't try to run, she knew that wouldn't work. _What is he doing here?_

"I'm here to see you." He had been reading her thoughts again. When he finally stopped walking, he was practically pressing his body against hers. He extended his hand to caress her face and for whatever reason, Nellie didn't look away. _What is happening?_ This was scaring her. Usually her mind won over heart but it was like her body wasn't responding to the part of her mind that kept her from making mistakes.

"What's happening? I'd say it's pretty obvious…" Silas said, wrapping his strong, protective arm around her waist, drawing her in. She wasn't fighting at all.

"What do you mean?" She squeaked. She was so flustered and she blushing furiously.

"This is what is happening." He laid a gentle kiss on her lips and her whole body electrified. His arm was wrapped around her waist, tightening, while his other hand curled through her long blonde hair. She had never felt anything like this before. The kiss started quicken and become more intense. She felt his arms tighten even more as he lifted her up into the air, her back still against the wall but her legs wrapped around his built structure. She was lost in every moment, in every touch. Her heart ached, as she wanted to stay here forever. She was completely at peace but completely lost in passion at the same time. Silas pulled back from the most passionate kiss she had ever felt, forehead still pressed against hers.

"I love you." He said, his emotion filling every breath.

"I love you too." She said before she pressed her lips hard against his, showing a passion she didn't know she had. She could hear a quiet voice in the back of her head and she continued to get lost in her love for a man she barely knew.

_Nellie….Nellie…_ The voice was becoming louder and louder.

Nellie shot up out of bed, completely drenched in sweat and panting as loud as dehydrated dog. Damon was next to her bed with a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him confused.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked, eyes wide. _Oh..MY…GOD…that was a dream…what the hell?_

"What? What happened?" She asked, turning towards Damon for answers but covering herself at the same time.

"You were mumbling loud so I thought you were having a nightmare. When I came in your mark was burning red and so I was trying to wake you up. I've been shaking you for five minutes…Is everything okay?" Damon asked, worried.

"I had this dream…a really _good _dream actually…" Nellie began.

"But?" Damon knew if the mark was burning her up, it usually didn't bode well.

"It was about Silas."

TO BE CONTINUED…..

**Hope you guys liked it, I threw in a little treat **** Please leave reviews!**


	9. Mystic Falls High School

**Author's note:**** Hey everyone! This chapter is EXTRA long so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for the story line suggestion by NicoleR85! I appreciate it and the continued support from MysticStefan **** I do have exams next week so you won't be hearing from me for a week or so… ENJOY! **

Chapter 9: Mystic Falls High School

"You're seriously going to keep this a secret?" Damon was always pushy but this was extra pushy. Nellie swung at him, her right hook connecting with his masculine jaw line. Damon stepped back, dazed a little bit and then lifted his hands back up to standard position.

"It's none of your business, Damon. I shouldn't have even said anything." Nellie was becoming frustrated, which seemed to be helping her fight back. Damon charged and she did what he usually did, side stepped, grabbed his waist, and well…couldn't flip him over. Instead, it just became an awkward moment of her lifting and nothing happening while Damon just laughed. The laughing only made her angrier so she squeezed with everything she had.

"You can't suffocate me by cutting off my air supply because I don't breathe, remember?" He taunted as he turned and punched her in the gut.

"Son of a…" She cursed, leaning over to get her air back, Damon not leaving much time to do so.

"Get up. No one is ever going to give you time to get ready, especially not lover boy." Once he said it, Nellie went into rage mode. _Silas is not my lover boy!_ She charged at Damon, but expecting the side step, she went for the opposite rib cage, her charge going through Damon and landing twenty feet away. She was lying on his chest in disbelief that she, Nellie Vallencia, was finally able to get one over on Damon Salvatore! She heard clapping, looked up, and remembered that her and Damon were training in the Police Station's gym instead of the backyard. Amidst their fighting the guys must have come into watch. Laughing she raised her hands up like a champion who had just crossed the finish line in a marathon race. After putting her hands down, she lowered one to Damon's level, helping him up.

"Nice one, Damon! You just got taken down by a chick!" Officer Burge was laughing and smacking hands with the other cops, watching their _private_ training session.

"What can I say? My training works. How bout you give her a whirl, Burge?" Damon said, the snide comments coming naturally. Nellie grabbed his arm and turned him to face her.

"What the hell are you doing? I don't want to fight Burge!" She whisper-screamed.

"If you can channel all that rage every time, you can take anyone down. I mean, I let you win but uh…" Nellie huffed and began to smile big.

"Let me win? I took you down!" She laughed and Damon quickly grabbed her waist and did the classic but painful flipping over move that she was painfully used to, smacking her hard against the mat.

"Okay, you let me win." She coughed, struggling for the air she needed back. He lifted her up with one hand and yelled at Burge.

"Come on man! I want to see my training at work." Damon taunted.

"I'm not hitting a chick." He stated. Nellie hated that excuse. What made women any different? Body parts? Please. Bring it on Burge.

"What? Scared you might get your butt kicked?" Nellie taunted. With that, Burge took off his jacket, stomped over, and got into fighter's stance.

"Sure you want to do this, cupcake?" Burge was a man with high confidence where it shouldn't be, obviously. Damon smiled, knowing what was coming.

"Go easy on me?" Nellie asked, with most innocent look and voice she could muster. _You are so going down Burge…_ She plotted.

"Sure, if you want me to go easy on you outside the ring, I can do that too cupcake." He was playing with her. It only fired her up more. She could hear Damon chuckling from the sidelines, knowing this guy was only going to make his beating worse. _Damon…five bucks says I take him down in less than a minute…_ she challenged telepathically.

_You're on, cupcake…_He said back. Nellie grinned an evil grin that made Burge's grin dissipate. Nellie charged and Burge expected a head on collision but that wasn't what he got. Nellie stepped on his planted knee, worked her way up to his shoulders, and wrapped her legs around his left arm as she whirled in the opposite direction, pulling him down into an arm lock. The minute her legs locked in place, he was finished. She could put as much pressure on his arm as she wanted and do as much damage as she wanted. All the guys yelled "OH!" in unison as they watched their friend go down in less than five seconds. Nellie was quick. Burge struggled under her hold.

"Tap out Burge and it's all over!" Nellie yelled, teasing him. _How's that for a girl? Whose the weak one now, HUH?!_

"Not uh, Vallencia, you ain't taking me down that easy." He threatened but when he tried to fight, she tightened her legs, sending more pain through his arm as she added pounds of pressure with one little twitch.

"TAP OUT! I got you good man!" She began twisting, which she knew was extremely painful.

"ALRIGHT! I TAP OUT!" Burge yelled back, as he slapped his free hand on the mat, signaling he needed to be let go. When Nellie released him, she helped him up, his friends coming to the mat.

"Burge what happened?" One of them questioned tauntingly.

"Hey Burge," Nellie called to him as he began to walk away with the unit.

"What?" He said, embarrassed.

"You should probably get that arm checked out, Cupcake." Nellie said that with as much cockiness as Damon usually spoke with, feeling good that she had proved the unit wrong. They all left laughing at Burge but patting him on the back.

"I have taught you well. Even my cockiness is beginning to rub off on you mini-me." Damon chuckled.

"OH NO! I am not your mini-me! But I will say, yes, you have trained me in combat quite well…" She admitted humbly. "Alright, let's go suit up." She said, giving him a good slap on the shoulder.

"Alright, cupcake."

…..

"Call me cupcake one more time, Damon, and I will kick your you-know-what so hard…" She threatened.

"I have taught you everything you know, you aren't pulling one over on me." Damon fired back jokingly. Nellie and Damon were headed back to the mustang after talking to Nat Turner, the boy whose house was vandalized by Gabriela Vandervort, their victim. Turns out, she was his girlfriend for a time until he slept around and she found out about it. Like any broken-hearted girl, she lashed out by spray-painting some extremely inappropriate words on his front door. However, Damon and Nellie didn't suspect Nat as her killer because he was incapable of dragging anything with those scrawny arms and he was just too pathetic for Gabriela to have met him anywhere. This Turner-kid had even hit on Nellie a little, which was returned with a polite decline. But of course, Nat Turner didn't let it go. After Nellie had walked away, he had asked Damon how he could get "some of that" and Damon replied with a simple "never gonna' happen dude" as he ran to join Nellie in the mustang.

"I think you were his second crush, awhh." Damon teased as he revved up the engine.

"Can you believe the nerve on that kid? I am a freaking detective and he hits on me? Really?" She laughed with disbelief. "We have interviews back at the high school, so head there next. I think we can count Turner out. That kid is way to weak to do any damage." Nellie said, shutting his file with a good smack.

"Alright Cu.."

"Don't say cupcake…"

…..

"She was like, my best friend and of course I don't know of anyone who would like, want to hurt her." Tatianna finished. She was the last squad member they had to interview and thank God for that. Nellie had never heard the word "like" used more in her entire life than she just did in the last thirty minutes. They thanked the squad and walked in the opposite direction, Damon's eyes finally leaving the cheerleader's short skirts.

"You are not seriously into the ditsy kind of girls are you?" Nellie asked, unbelieving that he could have tolerated it much longer.

"No, but a guy notices when a girl has good looking outfit on." He explained.

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, that didn't help. There wasn't anyone who had dirt on Gabriela, so we have no idea about anyone who might have wanted to hurt her." Nellie explained, as Damon and her passed a couple making out at the bottom of the stairs they were descending as they entered the school. Damon, being the jerk that he was, tapped the boy's shoulder, flashed the badge, and they both skidded off down the hallway to their classes.

"Don't act like you didn't do that in high school." Nellie snickered, pulling out her list of students she wanted to interview and scratching off every cheerleader.

"I didn't go to high school, remember? I got to skip that part." He said, reading over her shoulder.

"Oh right," she looked up at him mischievously, "you're "like" super old and you "like" didn't have school back in the day." She played. Damon punched her in the arm and after she stopped squirming, he asked her who was next.

"Well," she began, still rubbing her arm, "Tessa Reynosa; it says here that she and Gabriela had multiple confrontations." She finished, flipping through the remaining papers inside the file.

"Confrontations? Where can we find her?" Damon asked, curiosity beginning to motivate him as much as it motivated Nellie.

"According to her school schedule, she should be in the library as an aid this period. And by confrontations I mean, loud fights and oh, one time Gabriela threw a phone book at her…interesting. That doesn't sound like a sweet, down to earth cheerleader to me."

"Well, let's dig up some dirt then." Damon said, opening up the library doors. After walking around a bit, they found the help desk smack dab in the middle of the library, where they also happened to find a young girl with short black hair, dark brown eyes, and wearing a Boston t-shirt. You could tell the young girl was enamored with Damon's celebrity-like looks because she began to fix little things here and there as he approached. _I guess we are both going to get hit on today…_

"Hello, I'm looking for a Tessa Reynosa? You know where I could find her?" Damon asked in his charming voice. The girl perked up, put an elbow on the desk and slid a little closer. Nellie was behind Damon, getting a distasteful look from her counterpart. Tessa must have felt like Nellie was her competition. _You can have him…please take him…_she joked in her mind.

"You've found her."

"Well Tessa," Damon pulled out his badge, "I'm Damon and this is my partner, detective Vallencia. We need to ask you a couple of questions about Gabriela Vandervort." He explained, smiling so she wouldn't feel like she was being interrogated. Nellie taught him that. If someone you want information from feels threatened, they aren't going to say much of anything, so flash them a smile and come on like a friend.

"Yeah, sure, one sec." Tessa shut down the computer and waved them to the back room. She gestured for them to sit down on the tiny plastic chairs meant for a children's library. Damon just stared at it.

"I think I will stand thanks." He said, thinking that chairs couldn't be that small. Nellie sat down despite Damon's distaste and to her amazement, it was rather comfortable.

"Sorry, we are out of the bigger ones. What can I do for you guys?" Tessa asked kindly, realizing she should probably be nice to _both_ detectives.

"Well it says here you and Gabriela didn't get along and we just wanted the truth on how she acted when she was at school. What kind of enemies did she make? Is there anything you can tell us besides the good deeds she did around school?" Nellie knew that if anyone had dirt on Gabriela, it would most likely be Tessa. Tessa was her exact opposite. Short, black hair instead of blonde, good grades instead of mediocre ones, and Tessa had a steady co-op job at the school so she was hard working.

"Well, not that I want to be hateful towards a dead girl but uh, Gabriela wasn't really nice. If you weren't part of her posy, then you were dirt beneath her custom leather coach boots. I mean, she would come into the library and ask if I could help her find a nerd to do her homework, what is that?" Tessa complained. Tessa realized her voice had risen a little bit and she calmed down. "Look, I may not like her very much, but I wouldn't waste my life in prison just so I could kill Gabriela. That would be a total waste." She persuaded.

"I know you not lying. I've been there. I will say though, not all "popular" kids are like Gabriela. When you go to college, you will see. And you're right. It would have been a waste because you know better but do you know anybody who might not? Who were her enemies? Is there something we should know?" Damon watched as Nellie took over what was apparently her territory. She was really getting underneath the skin of this girl. Damon watched as her natural talent just guided the interview.

"Who wasn't her enemy besides the cool kids? I mean, if you were any type of nerd or geek, you were most likely made an enemy at some point. Although, there is always James…" Tessa rubbed her chin as she filed through a list of people who might have wanted to hurt Gabriela in her head.

"Whose James?" Damon asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, he was her neighbor when they were little and they were best friends in grade school but when she got to high school, she got beautiful and he didn't. She pretty much left him the dust, treated him bad, and he has hated her ever since. He writes a pretty nasty blog about students he doesn't like and he has posted _quite a few_ things about Gabriela." Tessa was slowly convincing herself of the possibility that James killed Gabriela as she explained the situation to Nellie and Damon. Nellie and Damon exchanged glances and then asked Tessa for the website's URL address. After thanking Tessa for her time, they interviewed two other student's who also agreed that James was a nasty blog writer but not capable of killing anyone. They needed to elongate their list but for today, they had ran out of interviewees and headed back to the boardinghouse for some research. Usually, detectives would do their work at the station but Nellie had never been one of those detectives. She liked the safety of a place she could call home to do her work in private. Lucky for her, she lived in the same house as her partner; therefore, it made working at home a whole lot easier.

"So what do you think?" Nellie said, plopping down next to Damon on the couch. He had a laptop out and was looking over James' blog for posts on Gabriela.

"These are pretty nasty. Read this one." Damon pointed to a post he had centered in the middle of his screen. As Nellie read over it, her eyes widened.

"Ouch. She really did a number on him. Are they all like that?" She asked.

"Unfortunately. We are going to have to interview this kid tomorrow." He said shutting the laptop.

"I agree but if he does seem innocent, I am sending him to the counselor's office for mental issues. I mean really? Who says…" Nellie didn't get to finish. Her body went limp and her mind left her current reality.

"Hello again." She whirled, seeing falling leaves land on Silas' shoulder. They were on the bridge where they had met. She had to control herself this time.

"What is happening to me? Why are you…doing _this_?" She asked, worried that these dreams might start happening outside of the boardinghouse.

"Well I can't communicate with you any other way and I thought you enjoyed my last visit." His sly smile sending chills down her spine.

"I can't help you find the key Silas. I don't know where to look and I don't intend on starting to look. You will have to find someone else." She stood her ground, stubbornness being her most charming quality.

"You think this is still only about the key? I mean yes, I want it but there is so much more now…" His eyes were filled with longing as he lurched forward, grabbing her in the grip she couldn't escape from.

"Let go of me." She demanded, chin up defiantly.

"Why? I can feel that you don't really want me to let you go. You're just as confused as I am about _this_." He was being extremely seductive. Nellie couldn't tell if what he was saying was real or he was just trying to manipulate her.

"Silas, I can't help you. I can't..."

"And if I said I didn't want the key anymore, would you believe me?" He asked, his palm warming up her cheek.

"No, I wouldn't. You want that key more than anything. What I don't know is why. What did Qetsiyah take from you and hide on the Other Side?" Nellie quit struggling, realizing, yet again, that it was completely useless. These were her dreams, she should be able to fight back, but for some reason, she never could. Silas broke their eye contact and looked down at the exposed mark she had on her chest. His gaze never met hers but he still spoke.

"She took something very important from me. Any chance of me dying a normal death are with what she took, and I need it back." He let go of her and stepped back, wrapping his hands around the old rail overlooking the bridge.

"Wait, your telling me you are going through all of this trouble so you can…die?" Nellie was not expecting that at all.

"You don't understand. When Qetsiyah casted the spell to make me immortal, it ripped something out of me. Something that defines who you are. If I die without it, I won't ever know peace." Nellie could see that something was truly broken in him but that didn't change the fact that he had killed people. Innocent people died while he was looking for her. Remembering each case over the past 40 years, Nellie took a step back for each one.

"But all those innocent people…" Nellie shook her head.

"I had to find you. You are the only way I get to leave in peace."

"So that gives you the right to kill people?" Her steps were quickening.

"Nellie you have to listen to me." He followed her. She was still walking backwards, mirroring his steps.

"No, I don't. You kill people. I save people. We are nothing alike and I have no intention in helping a killer." Nellie could see her words were making him angry, tired, and sad all at once.

"Nellie, don't do this. You will only make the inevitable take longer…" he warned.

"I can't." Nellie said as she sprung up on the couch. Damon was pouring water on her face. No wait… that was vodka. _Really Damon? That crap stings…_she coughed a little as some of the vodka went down the wrong pipe. Damon stopped pouring after her eyes popped open.

"Hey, what the hell was that?" He asked, worry in his voice. "Was it another dream? You know, like one of _those _dreams?" Damon plopped next to her on the couch.

"You really could have woken me up ten minutes sooner." She complained, her nosebleed returning. Grabbing a tissue, she dabbed at the blood exiting her nose.

"What do you mean ten minutes? You were out for thirty seconds…" Her head snapped his way and then she looked at her watch. Confused, she looked around the room, glad to see it was still the same.

"Weird." She thought out loud.

"You want to talk about it now?" Damon asked, brow furrowed stubbornly.

…..

"He told me he wants to die…" Nellie explained slowly and with a tinge of confusion in her voice. Damon just stared for a moment. They were still on the couch but now they were accompanied by glasses of whiskey, generously provided by Damon. It was true. Damon didn't share whiskey but he knew it was a requirement to get Nellie to calm down.

"To…die?" Damon downed what whiskey he had left and grabbed his spare bottle from underneath the coffee table that was next to their leather sofa.

"Yeah…that's what he claims anyway…" Nellie was still shaking. She wasn't sure until now that Silas was never going to let her go. He was on a mission and whether or not she liked it, she was involved until the finish.

"You know…I don't think he is lying but I don't think he is telling you _everything_ either…" Damon rubbed his chin, remembering a frank and secret (from Nellie for the time being) conversation he had with Bonnie.

"What do you mean?" Nellie asked, scooting closer to Damon on the couch.

"Well it's something Bonnie said…She said that when she talked to the spirits on the Other Side, they said when Silas gets what he wants and becomes fully human again, he gets his power back." Damon was sitting up but now he slowly let his back fall into the cushion of the couch, looking sprawled out, feet propping up on the coffee table.

"Powers?" Nellie asked, copying Damon's position because it looked comfortable. She was exhausted beyond measure.

"Yeah," he turned his head her way, "He was a witch before Qetsiyah put the immortal spell on him. He was pretty powerful from what Bonnie said."

"Wait…when did you talk to Bonnie?" Nellie's eyes inspecting Damon's.

"Uh…" He began. Nellie could see him trying to formulate a lie because she was beginning to know every look he had.

"Damon?" She pushed in a warning tone.

"Alright. Bonnie told me to not tell you all of this until she was sure. I don't like keeping things from you so this is me telling you." He took another sip of his whiskey. "Silas is trying to get to the Other Side to get his soul back. Bonnie believes the only spell that can do it…well, it involves a lot of power and she also thinks you have to do it. She didn't want to say anything because she isn't completely sure what you have to do with all of it besides, you know, opening the door." Damon analyzed Nellie as her expression changed from confused to even more confused and then scared. They sat in silence for a few moments, completely still. Nellie finally looked back to Damon and he noticed her eyes were watery.

"Nellie…this is why I didn't," he began but stopped when Nellie sat forward.

"No…no, I am glad you told me, it's just…" She looked back at him. Damon was still kind of laying back into the cushion of the couch. "What am I going to do? Silas will hurt everyone if I don't help him and I don't know anything about spells or what will happen if I do what he says!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was shaking. "Damon…I'm scared…" She looked at the floor, breathing heavy. Damon sat forward and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in so her soft blonde hair rested on his chin. He would never admit how good she smelled.

"Stop with the waterworks okay?" He chuckled nervously. "I don't like it when girls cry." He could feel her let out a slight laugh as his warm palm rubbed in circular motions on her back. "Look, we'll get with Bonnie and figure out what we are up against. Once we do that, we make up a clever plan and send the bastard back to where he came from." When he finished, Nellie looked up at him and it was the first time he had ever seen her so vulnerable. She was stubborn, strong, independent, and many other things but vulnerable was never one of them. She nodded her head.

"Alright. You're right. I am just letting him get under my skin." She said, wiping away the drying tears on her face.

"When have I ever been wrong?" He looked at her with a smile she knew he used on most of his conquests and she just gave him a disbelieving look. "Don't answer that…just take this." He poured more whiskey into her glass, lifted her hand holding her glass to her mouth, and tipped it so she would drink.

"There yah go. Better?" He asked. She coughed and nodded yes, putting her glass on the coffee table and sinking back into the couch with a sigh. She was quite the lightweight so he figured she didn't need anymore. He put the bottle of whiskey on the table and sunk back into the previous indention he left in the couch. Looking over, he saw his friend still shaking and taking deep breaths to calm down, which she always did when there was too much on her plate.

"Hey look, it's gonna be alright. We'll get him." He said, wrapping his arm around her again. She returned the gesture by huddling into the space that was between them, curling into a ball. Her head finally settling on his shoulder, he could feel the incessant shaking slowly leave her body.

"Thanks, Damon…" She sighed sleepily.

TO BE CONTINUED…

**Well I hope you enjoyed this, I know I did! Please some reviews and let me know what you would like to see in the future! **** Remember, I do have exams next week so I made this chapter extra long so I wouldn't have to post for a while! Ta-ta for now **


	10. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

**Author's note:** **Hello all! This chapter is a filler/ tying up loose ends kind of chapter in order to get to a drama filled chapter that I am currently in the process of writing! Please leave reviews so I can know what you would like to see in the story and ENJOY! **

Chapter 10: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

"You're so beautiful in the morning…" Stefan sighed as he rolled over to look at the ridiculously beautiful and graceful woman next to him…_my Elena_. Stefan had feelings for Katherine but words couldn't describe what he felt for Elena. Being with her felt like being strapped into a roller coaster ride that only goes up or like floating on clouds as you watched the sun rise. Just beautiful and great and enticing and…well, their relationship was a lot of things. One day Stefan was sure he was going to marry her.

"You're not so bad yourself." She returned the sigh, curling into his warm, strong chest and giving him the morning kiss he always looked forward to. Pulling away, she placed her hand on his cheek, just looking at him. "You are so perfect…I love you…" They kissed again, Stefan whispering back his affections. Elena fought her longing to lay in bed all-day and pulled away.

"Stefannn….We can't do this again. I want to but I have classes today." She whined. Stefan pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Alright. Come on," He said, pulling her out of bed, "let me make you some coffee." After Elena ruffled her way out of the sheets, Stefan wrapped his arm around her waist and they began to walk down the stairs when Elena stopped in her tracks near the bottom.

"What is it?" Stefan looked at her worried and she just flicked her hand to her mouth.

"Shhhhh….look…" She whispered. Stefan's gaze followed her finger to the boardinghouse living room. On the couch, surrounded by tissues and two empty bottles of whiskey were Damon and Nellie sleeping on the couch. They were propped up as if they had been watching TV. Nellie was snuggled into Damon's side while his arm still remained around her shoulders. They were each peacefully sound asleep. Elena and Stefan exchanged glances and they both broke out into a smile as they continued to the kitchen. After they were in the quiet of they kitchen, they quickly turned to one another.

"What do you think that is?" Elena asked, her grin ever widening.

"I don't know…Damon doesn't…snuggle…" Stefan said as his face contorted into a whole new expression of confusion and surprise but mostly confusion.

"Well I guess he does now…" Elena giggled, preparing her coffee.

"Well she has been through a lot right? Being partners probably makes them lean on each other when bad stuff happens… that would explain the whiskey anyway." Stefan suggested, Elena glancing at him with recognition.

"That's a really good guess…I bet you're right. Nellie really isn't Damon's romantic type. I get ahead of myself sometimes…" She sighed, throwing three spoons of sugar into her coffee.

"One of your charming qualities…" Stefan smiled, kissing her again.

"Mr. Salvatore! What kind of girl do you think I am?" Elena fake-gasped. "Don't take me for someone so easily wooed." She pushed him away playfully.

"I would never…" He replied, leaving the kitchen and sneaking back up the stairs quietly. Elena took one final glance at Damon and Nellie as she tiptoed up the stairs. _He looks….peaceful…_ she thought. _Perfectly peaceful._

….

Nellie nestled into the semi-cold, comforting pillow that was Damon, dreaming about guns blazing, classic cars, and new training techniques as she inhaled the smell of whiskey, leather, and a naturally sweet musk. Had she known that she was practically _snuggling_ with her new partner, she most likely would've sprung off of the couch but she was immersed in a deep sleep as Stefan and Elena quietly tip-toed up the stairs. Her sleep as of late had been lacking due to the intrusions by Silas, so her body needed comfort to fall into the dream world she was avoiding. Her partner was doing more than just protecting her physically but now also mentally.

…..

An aroma of lavender, honey, and whiskey filled Damon's nose as he woke. He could feel warmth seeping into his side as he took a big whiff of the excellent smell. Still groggy, Damon's eyes peeled open and he cracked his achy back as he stretched. He looked at the source of the heat and went rigid from head to toe. _Nellie? Oh God…_his thoughts began to go on the defensive as he carefully removed his arm from Nellie's shoulders and quietly rose off the couch. After a few moments he realized why they fell asleep together and calmed down a bit. But still, the last thing he needed was for the one person he semi-trusted to become attached to him in a way he couldn't deal with. Nellie was his friend and he didn't want go there with her and screw up whatever this was, which is why he was glad that she hadn't woken up yet. He gently pulled a blanket over Nellie's petite frame and went to the cupboard in the kitchen to get some aspirin for the headache he knew she would have when she woke up. Before Damon had become a vampire, he knew all to well how bad the headaches and fatigue would be after being drunk the night before. Back in his "day" they didn't have aspirin or Tylenol for the hangover. Placing the medication and a glass of water on the coffee table, Damon sat in a chair opposite the couch and looked over case file they had been working on before Nellie's dream intrusion-attack-thing. He knew Silas was manipulating a connection they had but what he hadn't figured out was how. The thought of Silas being able to intrude on Nellie's thoughts whenever he felt the need to made Damon nervous and ready to sever that connection when the moment presented itself. It also meant that Silas was alive, somewhere, hiding. Shaking off the nerves, Damon got back to business. Today he and Nellie had to question James, the kid with the nasty blog, and find out if he was capable of killing Gabriela. Damon took the initiative and began to search for his full name and address but there were at least three students at Mystic Falls high with that name. Damon's phone was dead so he swiped Nellie's off the coffee table, which was also almost dead, and called Matt. After the annoying buzzing sounds shut off he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Nellie? I am glad it's you because I thought you might be dead or something. You haven't taken my calls since you moved out and you just went silent…what's going on? Are you okay?" Matt was rambling as fast as a kid hyped up on sugar and red bull (is there a difference?).

"Whoa, Matt…slow down kid. It's just me, Damon. Nellie is sleeping and my phone was dead but I needed to ask you something." Damon listened closely and heard a sigh of disappointment from Matt's end.

"Right. Sorry. Uh, what do you need?" Matt's voice showed the obvious let down. Damon would have to pry later to find out why Nellie was avoiding Matt. _When she first got to Mystic Falls she and Matt were attached at the hip and best buds and now she won't talk to him? Weird…_Damon plotted his invasion of her privacy but it would have to wait.

"Well, we have a lead on the Vandervort case but it's not specific…you know a kid named James…he has a nasty blog…?" Damon could hear some ruffling in the background and a door shutting, the click noise signifying the locking of the door.

"What do you need with James?" Matt asked curiously. He had moved into the Mystic Grill's storage room for privacy.

"Just need to talk to him, Matt. What's his last name? Do you know where we can find him and when?" Damon grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.

"Uh, yeah, try the vinyl store on Cain Street…he should be there from 4 o'clock to around 8 if he still works there. His name is James Drake." Matt explained cautiously, mentally assessing his choice in friends.

"Okay, thanks." Damon was about to hang up when he heard Matt stop him desperately.

"Hey, Damon, wait. Can I ask you something?" Damon didn't like the sound of that…

"Uh, make it quick. Nellie will be up soon and I still have to suit up." He pushed, trying to discourage Matt from asking him something that would put him in the middle of whatever was happening between them. Damon avoided drama as best he could, especially when it involved family feuds because he had enough of that on his own.

"Has anything else been happening with Nell since she got back? I mean she hasn't said anything and that's okay I guess but I just want to know how she is…" His voice was filled with the worry of an older brother. Biological brother or not, Matt had certainly been there for her over the years.  
>"Well," Damon exhaled tiredly, not really sure himself what was going on lately, "I would say things are okay. Nellie is okay and right now Silas is nowhere in sight so I would say we are in pretty good shape compared to last week. She isn't blowing up anything anymore which is good." Damon's sarcasm could be a comfort sometimes when used correctly and he could hear Matt chuckling on the other side of the line.<p>

"Oh, alright then. Sounds like things are okay. Just uh, have her check in with me sometime, yeah?" Matt asked, desperately wanting to hear from his elusive friend.

"Yeah, I will tell her you asked to talk to her. Thanks again for the help." Damon heard Matt mumble the equivalent and snapped Nellie's old flip phone shut.

"Who were you talkin' to?" Nellie yawned, eyes still shut as she squeezed the blanket around her tighter. Damon didn't know she had been awake…_How long has she been awake?_ He wondered silently.

"Uh, I called Matt to find out who this James kid is…thought it would be quicker than running all the way to the station when you woke up." He said, sliding her phone back to her side of the coffee table.

"But since you are a vampire, wouldn't it have been just about the same amount of time?" She asked playfully, her curiosity making Damon snort sarcastically. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up. Immediately after she got up, her palms pressed into her temples, hangover headache pounding on her brain.

"Aspirin is on the table…" Damon said, grabbing her gear and throwing it next to where she was sleeping on the couch.

"Thanks…" She gulped the pill down with the water and sat back down, throwing her Kevlar back on and holstering her gun. "What did you find out? We have an address?" Nellie had started her way towards the stairs as she yelled across the living room.

"Nope but I have a place and time of where we can find the kid." He yelled back as he watched her slowly ascend the stairs, the hangover obvious in her sluggish shoulders.

"Okay good…that's good…" She huffed, getting to the top of the stairs. "I'll be back."

…..

After brushing her teeth thoroughly to get off the nighttime fuzzy feeling, she quickly descended the stairs with a hop in her step, the medication finally kicking in after half an hour. Nellie had thrown on some deodorant and perfume before heading out. Damon had packed up their gear while she got ready and was grabbing the keys to the 64' when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"You ready?" He asked, sounding as if he had been waiting for hours.

"Yes, Damon…sorry to keep your highness waiting." Nellie played back, equally exaggerating.

….

"So, your blog…can you explain that to us?" Damon asked, an intimidating edge to his voice. James Drake shifted in his armchair, obviously hiding something Nellie knew Damon would get out of him. If James was involved, Nellie would bet he didn't kill Gabriela alone.

"Wha-what do you mean?" He stuttered, cracking under the pressure Damon was applying. _That was quick…_Nellie thought glancing at her vintage wristwatch, _only took 32 minutes, impressive._

"Oh, come on James." Damon sat down on the couch in front of James, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "The blog where you threatened our dead victim Gabriela Vandervort. Out with it, I don't have all day." Nellie's phone vibrated in her pocket and she quietly stepped into a more private section of the vinyl shop, flipping it open after reading the caller of I.D of their forensic specialist at the station.

"Sally, how's it goin'?" Nellie didn't have many friends but Sally Duvall was everyone's friend. Sally was the sweetest redhead you would ever meet.

"Hey hun, I got the results back from the finger nail residue, we have a hit for a Carter Drake, a man with a nasty rap sheet." She explained.

"He wouldn't happen to have any relation to a James Drake would he?" Nellie knew this was their break in the case, finally some luck.

"Uh…," Nellie could hear Sally flipping through pages and then a few clicks from an archaic computer mouse that Sally wouldn't toss out, "Actually, yes. Seems Carter is James' older brother."

"Good work, Sally, as always. Could you send an officer to pick up Carter James please?" Nellie asked politely, scribbling the news down in her pad.

"Will do hun, be safe." Sally gave the usual advice and hung up. _We've got him now…_ Nellie thought, sliding the notepad back into her chest pocket. When Nellie reentered the sofa area of the shop, James was still denying involvement but trying to cleverly explain the rude comments on his blog.

"Look, Gabi was a slut, yes, but did I waste my time killing her? No. She wouldn't have followed _me_ out into those woods anyway so there is no way I could have lured her anywhere pal." James said cockily, obviously pleased with himself. Nellie stepped in before Damon could take a swing at the brat.

"You're right," she sighed with exaggeration, "there isn't a single way that popular Gabriela would have followed a nerd like you into the woods and so she didn't. She followed your brother Carter into the woods and you killed her with his help because you are too pathetic to do it on your own." At first Nellie had it pegged that James had his brother do it while he was at the bonfire so he would have an alibi and then she saw how cocky and moronic he was, giving away what really happened.

"Alright you need to leave, NOW. I am not answering anymore of your questions." James spat. Nellie had enough of his childish crap. She forcefully walked into his personal space and pulled out her cuffs.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back." She demanded, Damon backing her up, thumb snap on his holster undone.

"What? Why? You haven't charged me with anything!" He complained.

"I said turn around," She shoved him around, grabbing his hands and slapping cuffs around his wrists, "you are being charged with being an accessory to murder and you have the right to remain silent…" Nellie continued to explain his Miranda rights as she shoved him out the front door and finally into the back of the 64'.

…

After getting the case evidence together and interrogating both Carter and James Drake, Nellie and Damon received the confessions they needed to wrap up the case with little to no fuss. Cases usually took her longer but she guessed that having a partner helped things along nicely. When Carter and James were finally in the brig awaiting trial, Damon and Nellie headed to the Sherriff's office where they received praise on a job well done and were sent home early, leaving with high fives and hollers at Damon for his first take down. Plopping into the 64', Nellie looked at Damon with a congratulatory smile.

"See, you are fitting in just fine around the office." She laughed. "Bob even said good job. Well done _trainee_." She mocked.

"Hey now, I am _not_ a trainee." He explained, a finger up in the air. "I am also nearly 200 years older than you. If anyone trained anyone, I trained you." He played back, revving up the beautiful engine to his beautifully vintage vehicle. Nellie just laughed and threw her Kevlar into the back.

"Alright, alright. You got me. Wanna get a beer or something to celebrate a quick and easy case?" She asked, her shoulders regressing to a relaxed state. When investigating a case, Nellie was always tense and when finishing a case, her shoulders would have a relaxed shrug immediately set in.

"Yeah, sounds good. Mystic Grill it is." He turned the car, looking both ways.

"Is that the only bar around here?" Nellie asked, avoidance showing in her words.

"Yup." Damon glanced at her, reading her expression (he was beginning to know all of the expressions she had). "Still avoiding Matt?"

"What? What makes you think that?" She asked defensively, shifting in her seat.

"Well, I talked to him the other day and he said you won't return his calls and that I should tell you to call him. And I like to invade your privacy so spill." Damon's course was still set for the Grill. He watched as Nellie looked down at her shoes.

"Look. I don't know if you understand this or not but…" She started but was cut off.

"You are trying to protect him from Silas aren't you?" Nellie just looked at Damon with disbelief shadowing her features.

"How did you…?"

"It wouldn't be the first time someone has pushed away a loved one to protect them…" He said knowingly.

"Speaking from experience?" She asked curiously, eyebrows nit.

"You could say that." He said, pulling into a parking space in front of the Grill. "Look, we need to talk to Bonnie. If you want to leave because you see Matt or whatever, walk out and I will follow." He explained the escape plan. Nellie nodded, following Damon into the Grill after locking the 64'.

"Thanks for having my back, Damon." She said, walking past him as he held open the door.

"No problem."

….

TO BE CONTINUED…..

**As always, leave some reviews and lemme know what you think!**


	11. Lockdown

**Author's note:**** Hello again! I wrote this over the past week because I couldn't figure out how to put my thoughts on paper. Even though I don't quite love how this chapter is written, I wanted to update already so here it is **** I'm also considering starting another fanfic involving the avengers? Let me know in your review if you would be interested in reading something like that **

Chapter 11: Lockdown

"That's why you have been avoiding me?" Matt asked dubiously, eyes trying to read Nellie.

"I didn't want to pull you into all of this…So, I just didn't bring it up…" Nellie shifted uncomfortably, ashamed that she hadn't told him sooner. Damon was sitting at the tall bar table with Bonnie, shifting his attention between eavesdropping on Matt and Nellie, and discussing their _situation_ with Bonnie.

"Nellie," Matt placed his ridiculously large, warm hands on her shoulders, reminding her of the times he protected her from bullies in grade school, "I'm here for you. I am not going to let you face this…this," Matt struggled to find the proper word, "this douche bag all by yourself…that's not happening!" He took a minute to calm himself, straightening as he took a breath. "Look, just let me know these things. I can probably defend myself better if I know what's _really_ going on…I just want you to be safe."

"I know Matty…" She pulled him into a rib-crushing hug. "I promise I will tell you next time."

"You better…" He replied caringly, slightly out of breath from Nellie's hug. "Uh, Nellie?" Matt wheezed.

"Yeah?" She said, arms still wrapped tight around her childhood friend.

"I…I can't breathe…" Matt stated, somewhat gasping for air. Nellie pulled away with a quirk in her upper lip.

"Ha, sorry." She stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Damon has been training me and I keep forgetting I am a little stronger than I used to be." Matt's gaze traveled over Nellie's shoulder to Damon, who was speaking intently with Bonnie over two half-full glasses of beer.

"Never thought you two would get along after you first met…who knew?" He questioned with a chuckle, slight disbelief in his tone.

"Right? At first, he just seemed like a total jerk but eventually it got better." Nellie explained, thinking that they had created a friendship without realizing it until after it already happened.

"Better?" Matt asked, voice rising mockingly.

"Not like that, Matty…you know what I mean."

"Yeah I do…" Matt exhaled with a small laugh, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leading her back to the table. As they approached, Damon and Bonnie got quiet.

"Figure it out?" Damon asked invasively, eyes searching for visual cues in Nellie's body language. She wouldn't be completely straight unless they were alone so he resorted to his training.

"Yeah. Did you guys figure out our uh, _situation_?" Nellie wondered out loud. Matt stepped in.

"Hey, I gotta' get back to work but let me know if you guys need a refill or something." Matt said as he turned to walk away.

"Sure thing Matty…" Damon hollered after him. Matt kept walking.

"Don't call me that, Damon!" Matt hollered back over his shoulder. Damon smiled as he inwardly praised himself for being so good at annoying Matt.

"So anything, Bonnie?" Nellie inquired, stealing Damon's beer and taking a large gulp.

"Well I talked to the spirits and none of them know what all will happen when the door is opened. Silas claims to want his soul back but…"

"Wait…his soul? What do you guys mean by that?" Nellie asked as Damon snatched his beer back. Nellie gave him the you've-already-drank-too-much-look.

"Yeah." Bonnie said, as if it was obvious. "When he said a part of him was missing and that he couldn't die without it, he meant his soul. See, when someone is turned into a vampire, his or her soul is still there it just has less precedent in decision-making, but it's never gone. When Qetsiyah made Silas immortal, she also ripped out his soul after his betrayal and hid his soul on the other side. That's what the spirits are saying anyway…it's hard to say what really happened since it was so long ago."

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense." Nellie contemplated what she was being told. _I guess being soulless makes mass murder easier…_ Nellie thought.

"Anyway, the problem is once the door is open, it's open on both sides. Silas can release whoever or whatever he wants. Also, the only thing powerful enough to open the door is the key he keeps talking about. I asked the spirits if they knew anything and I got mixed answers. It's a complete possibility that you are not even looking for an object." Bonnie sighed.

"Great…" Damon huffed, annoyed the situation just got more complicated.

"No this is good…" Nellie straightened in her chair. "If the key is not an object, it could be a million different things."

"And that's good how? How are you supposed to find it if we don't even know what it is?" Damon asked, curiosity in his question.

"If I refuse to help him, there is no possible way he can find it…not without me…which is good news!" Nellie finally felt hope after such of a long absence of it.

"Yes, that's true but we can't just leave it out there for anyone to find…" Damon hated that he was right. Leaving such a powerful item for anyone to find was asking for trouble and by the look Nellie was giving him, he knew she understood; part of their whole communicate telepathically/with their eyes-thing that they do.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but…I think he is right Nellie." Bonnie sighed.

"I know…just thought I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and all…" Nellie was exhausted from the constant running from Silas. She wanted an epic battle because she knew that it would eventually end, unlike what she was facing now which was a never ending game of cat and mouse.

"We are going to figure this out. I promise." Damon promised with sincerity, his supportive hand on Nellie's shoulder. Bonnie couldn't believe what she was seeing. _Damon cares for someone he hasn't slept with? Weird…not his usual forte..._ Bonnie thought to herself as she watched Damon's seemingly foreign actions. Suddenly Damon's eyes grew concerned and his brow furrowed, posture growing tall.

"Hey," He nudged Nellie, "are you okay? You feel _really_ warm…burning up actually…"

"Actually no," Nellie breathed deep while perspiration beaded on her forehead, "I feel really feverish…you mind taking me home now?" Without a word in reply, Damon threw Nellie's arm over his shoulder and walked her towards the door, her boots skidding across the dark wood floor as they walked. He reached for the doorknob and twisted the metal in his palm but nothing happened. Irritated, Damon tried to open the door with more force but still nothing.

"Hey Matt!" Damon yelled, voice practically echoing through the empty Mystic Grill.

"Yeah?" He yelled back from behind the bar.

"Try that door over there!" Damon suggested, head nodding at the back door. His eyes followed Matt as Matt made his way across the bar and disappeared into the hallway. After a few moments that felt like hours, Matt returned with a look of confusion plaguing his face.

"I couldn't get it open…" Matt said, scratching his head as he made his way to the side door, which only yielded the same result. "What's going on?"

"Silas…" Nellie said through her clinched teeth. Footsteps echoed from the back hallway, revealing the darker version of Stefan.  
>"Hey doll. You miss me?"<p>

….

Silas' goon tightened the rope around Nellie, securing her in a wooden bar stool with her back to Bonnie, Matt, and Damon, who were also restrained. Damon's rope was soaked in vervain to keep him from getting loose and Nellie couldn't budge either because Silas, returning with more power than before, was suppressing her abilities. Silas was circling the mini-formation their chairs made, watching as the three hired guns finished by double knotting their restraints. When they stepped back, Silas flicked his hand demandingly and the men stepped outside the door, standing guard. The bar was now occupied by Matt, Bonnie, Damon, Nellie, and a homicidal maniac; _great_…Nellie thought.

"I realize the restraints may seem to be a little much but you can never be too careful…" Silas now circling towards Damon and stopping in front of him, "especially because of you." Silas pointed. "When I leave here with Nellie, you will only try to follow and I can't have that."

"You aren't taking her anywhere, pal." Damon spat, hate easing out of every pore.

"Oh but I am." He said cockily. "I won't be forcing her to come with me either, she will come with me on her own. Once she knows the truth…" He reassured, toying with what he considered a sad excuse of competition for Nellie's affections.

"I would never." Nellie stated simply, defiantly. Silas circled the rest of the way around them and stopped in front of Nellie, kneeling down to be at eye level.

"Your every instinct is telling you to trust me and you won't. Why is that?" He asked curiously, bringing a hand up to caress her face. Nellie looked the other way in anger. "Why won't you accept what you are?" He cooed.

"I am. I am a guardian. I am the guardian of a key that you aren't supposed to get your hands on and I'd say I am living up to the role so far." She said, frustration welling up inside of her, sarcasm lacing her words.

"Is that what Qetsiyah told you?" He laughed after he asked the question. "You're not a guardian, you are much more than that. Just come with me and let me show you." He finished, sure of himself and confident.

"I'm a little tied up at the moment." Nellie said sarcastically. "I'm not helping you. You might as well stop asking Silas. That's never going to change." She huffed defiantly, blowing a stray strand of hair from her face.

"She said no man. Take the hint so we can leave already." Damon added to the sarcastic feel in the room.

"Don't think I will hesitate to snap your neck." Silas snapped at Damon, still staring at Nellie, watching as her face changed expressions. He liked watching how she reacted to things; it reminded him of when he was human. "The only reason the three of you are still alive is because Nellie cares for you."

"Leave them out of this Silas. It's me that you want so let them go. Just let them leave and I will listen, okay?" Nellie had to resort to a compromise. This was the situation she feared the most. Everyone she cared about was lined up for the firing squad and she had a tough decision to make. Although, she would do anything to see them walk out of here alive so the decision wasn't tough at all. Family first.

"No Nellie, don't." Damon warned, voice ragged with defiance as he fought his restraints. "This is what he wants."

"Well of course it is." Silas exclaimed, walking over to Damon and stopping right in front of him. "You are definitely more trouble than you're worth." He said, snapping his neck with one quick motion. Nellie couldn't stand the sound. She knew he would heal in an hour or so but she jumped anyway, a hot tear running down her cheek. Whatever feelings she had for Silas, they were gone now. Damon was the one man, besides Matt of course, that she could put her trust in and not be let down. _What was I thinking? He kills without remorse. Even if he had a soul, I'm sure he would be just as evil…_Nellie angrily decided.

"And you wonder why I won't help you, you selfish son of a bi…" Her hate-drenched comment was interrupted.

"You will help me one way or another, Nellie. But I would prefer it be my way." He said, returning the kneeling position in front of her. Seeing the tears rolling down from her cheeks, he put his thumb affectionately on her chin, lifting her eyes to his level. "I will never hurt you. You don't need to be afraid of me. Qetsiyah lied to you. Let me explain." He pleaded, thumb moving up her jawline until his palm rested on her cheek. Nellie attempted to shake his hand off but the restraints kept her efforts from working.

"You've lied to me Silas! You're wrong. Every instinct I have is telling me to kill you but I can't. But when I can, you better run fast." More burning tears rolling down her cheeks, an emotional dam breaking free. "You lied to me, threatened Matt and killed Damon. Why would I trust you?" She genuinely wanted to know why she should trust the man who snapped her best friend's neck. _My best friend? Wow…guess I can't argue with that. He is my best friend_, she thought. Bonnie and Matt continued to stay quiet and listen to the drama that was unfolding before them.

"I know it may seem like I am the bad guy here but Damon wasn't going let me show you what I needed to show you. He will heal in an hour. I need to show you something. Once you see you will understand." He sighed, looking at her scar and then her. "It's never only been about the key, Nellie."

"What? Of course it has. You want me to trust you but you are still lying to me." Nellie hated the tears but she couldn't help it anymore. She had pushed it all down inside and all of the repressed emotions were just resurfacing at the wrong time. Silas pulled her up from the bar stool, her arms still tied tightly behind her back.

"I'm not lying to you!" He shook her in frustration. "Let me show you…" He said. Bonnie and Matt watched Silas pull Nellie into a passionate kiss that she fought to get out of, his hands gripping her protectively tight. Matt had to look away but when he heard Bonnie gasp, he had to see what had happened. Silas was lowering Nellie's limp body to the ground, one hand pressed to the side of her face.

"What have you done to her?" Bonnie and Matt said in unison. Without looking at them, he replied.

"Showing her what Qetsiyah didn't."

….

Damon woke up to an annoying pain in his neck, generously provided by the one and only Silas. When he finally managed to pull his eyelids up, he looked from side to side to see that Matt and Bonnie were still alive. He exhaled in relief.

"Hey, what happened while I was out?" Damon whispered to Bonnie. Bonnie's head shot in his direction and sighed in relief that he was awake.

"Good you're awake. Well, Silas kissed Nellie and now she is in a coma. He keeps saying he is showing her something. Maybe she is in a dream state or something." She suggested as she watched Damon's eyes fill with surprise. _Kissed her? What? Why? _ Damon wondered angrily. _I swear when I get my hands on that SOB…_

"I missed that much, huh?" Damon said pointedly. Damon shifted his chair quietly so he could crane his neck behind him. The bar stool was much lighter than he anticipated and he had turned 180 degrees with just one shift, eyes narrowing at the sight before him. Silas was kneeling over Nellie, palm pressed to her temple, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"What are you doing to her?" He asked concerned. "What are you _showing_ her?" If Damon ever got out of these wraps he would kill that replica of his brother; _so help me God_…

"I am showing her the part of her destiny Qetsiyah has kept from her. The truth to the lie Qetiyah told her. I knew that spirit was wrong. There is no way she is a descendant of Qetisyah. I would have been able to feel it." He looked up at Damon. "She isn't the _guardian_ of the key, Damon. You are."

TO BE CONTINUED…..

**Hope you guys enjoyed it **** I am currently working on the next chapter and it should be up soon **** PLEASE REVIEW! (Don't forget to let me know about the possible avengers story)**


	12. The Guardian and His Key

**Author's note:**** Hey guys! I told you I would update as soon as possible so here it is! I love the ending to this chapter but it is super long! Thanks for the support from my reviewers NicoleR85, ****GITANJALEE123, and a guest (whoever you are, thank you)! I worked super hard to be accurate but again I haven't seen the show in a loooonnnngggg time so if the ancient Greece stuff isn't super accurate to the show, sorry in advance :p anyway, I hope you enjoy **** Merry Christmas guys!**

Chapter 12: The Guardian and His Key

Ancient Greece…

"Drink this, my darling, and we will be together forever…" Qetsiyah gracefully handed Silas a golden chalice along with a vial of the brew of immortality. Silas gracefully received the chalice and left her chambers, heading straight for the girl he truly wanted to use it for: Amara. His plan was quite clever but was also dangerous. He had to be quick, cunning, and smart to trick Qetsiyah into making him a potion. Qetsiyah would be awaiting him at the alter while he made haste with his maiden. Walking rather quickly through the woods Silas collided with something rather short and lavender in scent. As he picked himself up and straightened out he gazed down at the young blonde beauty before him in servant's clothing. She stood with a huff and spoke with a hostility he wasn't used to receiving seeing as he was royalty.

"When moving with such haste, you have forgotten how to be aware of you're surroundings…" She was brushing leaves off her torn garments and picking twigs out of her hair. "I find those that are in a rush are usually rather rude…" She muttered, finally looking up at who she was so harshly insulting. After her face flushed with a blood-red tint, she immediately fell to her knees and began to apologize. "I am most deeply contrite for my previous mutterings your royal highness. I hadn't realized your highness' true identity until after I spoke so rudely." Silas smiled at the blue-eyed vision before him, deciding whether or not to play with the situation.

"You may stand peasant." With his command she stood, her gorgeous eyes looking anywhere but at him. "From where do you hail? My father's kingdom?" She quietly nodded, shifting uncomfortably in her dirty clothing. He could see that the young girl was holding back a defiance she would normally display; desperate to keep from saying something that could get her in more trouble. "What is your name?" He asked curiously.

"Natalia Vallencia sire." She was being respectful but he could sense the rage of having to be beneath someone else. He could tell that she wanted to be treated as an equal with fairness and kindness. He let out a slight chuckle and she finally met his eyes with a quirk of confusion.

"Well, Natalia, it is quite the pleasure to have chanced upon you but assistance is required of me elsewhere. Know this, I look forward to our next encounter." Silas left her with a respectful bow and a gaping mouth. As Silas continued quickly through the woods, he couldn't help but smile inwardly as he thought of the curious new friend he had made. It had been awhile since any woman had ever been so harsh with him. Once he made the clearing, he saw Amara sitting by the well, quietly awaiting his arrival.

….

Silas' legs carried him quickly through the darkened woods of the night. Carrying what was left of his poor Amara, a simple necklace, he had no choice but to flee from Qetsiyah. Qetsiyah had heard whispers of his betrayal and had followed him. When she saw the proof before her own eyes she had descended upon their secret marriage ceremony, casting spells left and right. Sentencing Amara to be a prisoner to the Other Side forever, Amara vanished before Silas' eyes while dropping the necklace he had given her so long ago as a token of his love. Wanting to remain alive to one day find Amara, Silas dashed for the woods, gasping for air as he darted and swerved through the trees. After running for hours he came to a simple cottage of a servant family and pounded on the door so hard that it nearly gave in. An older woman answered the door and immediately bowed.

"I need shelter." He exhaled deeply, out of breath. The woman quickly motioned him in, sitting him down on what was probably their only decent piece of furniture. Silas had never known what it was like to be a peasant and was glad for it.

"What can I get for you sire?" She asked, eyes avoiding his obediently.

"A pale of water…" The minute he said it, she was yelling for her daughter to fetch a pale of water. He heard footsteps running down a hallway, opening a door, and then returning.

"Coming Mamah!" A familiar voice echoed through the small cottage. Entering the room was the exquisite young girl he had the fortune of meeting in the woods. She handed the pale to her mother and looked up in surprise.

"Why have _you_ come to _our _cottage?" She asked rather bluntly, not realizing how blunt until after the words slipped from her lips. Her mother looked up at her in amazement.

"Natalia! Mind your tongue child!" The mother scolded.

"It is quite fine. We are acquaintances." He explained slowly and the mother just looked from one to the other. He looked to Natalia. "No need to worry yourself Natalia. I will be departing soon. I only need _temporary_ shelter." Natalia just nodded and quickly skittered out of the room. The mother said nothing, still in shock that royalty was sitting in her cottage. After the mother could no longer be of service, she began to leave the room.

"Wait!" Silas called to her, making her spin quickly.

"Yes sire?" She asked obediently.

"I have a wound that needs nursed and I cannot attend to it properly. Is anyone in your household able?" He asked demandingly. The mother nodded nicely.

"Yes sire! Natalia is quite talented with healing wounds."

"Fetch her immediately." He commanded and the mother ran after her daughter. Hearing slight bickering in the hallway he began to chuckle to himself. He was thinking about how stubborn she was as she entered the room. She was carrying rags, a fresh pale of water, a large sewing needle and some clear thread. As she glided over to him gracefully, she pulled over a seat.

"Sire, where is the wound that needs to be nursed?" He was slightly surprised at the concern in her voice. He motioned to his left collarbone, blood slowly soaking into the white garment he was wearing. She disinfected the needle by holding it over the small fire they had in their fireplace before sitting rather close to him (it was required considering where his wound was). She had to hold in a gasp as he stood and removed his shirt, showing the muscles that were underneath, before sitting back down.

"This will cause discomfort." She warned but he motioned for her to continue. He felt a cold washcloth wiping over his wound and then the warm touch of tiny hands being placed on his chest. He gazed down at the beautiful Natalia as she began to stitch up the wound Qetsiyah had left him with. After Amara had vanished, he quickly ran for the woods but Qetsiyah was no fool. She had been prepared with a dagger to kill him herself. Being the excellent marksman that Qetsiyah was, she had gotten him on the first throw. He had turned to see if she was following and the knife whizzed through the air, slicing the surface of his chest. The shallow wound was a warning that she would be coming for him and he would receive a slow death. He was now immortal but Qetsiyah was the witch who had created the potion. All she had to do to wound him was place some of her blood on the blade and it would be harmful to him. Shaking off the fear of being Qetsiyah's fugitive, Silas continued to let Natalia's presence calm him. The two shared a level of attraction, as displayed by each other's blushing, but they both knew that each had a special someone in their life. Silas had Amara while Natalia had the man in the cottage down the way, a dark haired, broad shouldered, icy-blue-eyed man. Regardless, they enjoyed each other's company; although, Natalia would never have admitted it. She continued to have the defiant expression on her face as she finished the final stitch. Tying it off, she cleansed the rest of the area before placing a dry cloth on it to soak up the blood that would escape the stitches.

"Is this to your liking, sire?" She asked politely, a sparkle touching her blue eyes.

"Quite. Thank you, Natalia. You may call me Silas when we are in private company." She nodded with a deeper blush and went to the kitchen hutch to put away her supplies. Suddenly a loud powerful banging came at the door before it burst open, wood splinters flying to each corner of the small living room. Natalia rushed the small door opening connecting their kitchen hutch and living room. A ravishing olive skinned, dark haired woman stood in the doorway, glaring at Silas.

"You dare run from me you treacherous betrayer!" She bellowed, shaking the walls of their tiny cottage. Her gaze shot toward the small blonde in the doorway. "And YOU! Providing this snake with shelter!"

"She was simply following my orders Qetsiyah! You're quarrel is with me." He pulled Qetsiyah's dangerous attention his way, protecting Natalia. Natalia caught sight of her mother hiding in the corner and she motioned her mother to leave. At first the mother would not go but after realizing that Natalia was also motioning for her to get help, she quietly crept out of the cottage's back door, dashing through the woods for assistance.

"Silas, I loved you and you betrayed me to be with my handmaiden! You are a low creature!" She took a couple strides forward, closing more of the gap between them. "I was intending to end your life but I thought of a worse end for you. Your sweet Amara will forever be out of your grasp and I intend on keeping it that way. To add to your punishment, I will be taking the only innocent piece of you that you currently possess." She spat words of hate as she scared Silas into awed silence. Silas slowly looked down at his chest when she mentioned taking a sacred piece of him.

"And what shall you do with it Qetsiyah? It is of no use to you!" He fought.

"But it is," She chuckled evilly, "once I rip from you what makes you who you truly are, I get to watch you slowly lose sight of the charming prince you _think_ that you are." She turned her attention away from him to the daring blonde frozen in the doorway. "Your fate is much simpler. You shall die for your assistance." Qetsiyah pulled a dagger and charged at Natalia.

"NO!" A man yelled as he ran in front of Natalia protectively, holding up a small wooden shield that would take several of Qetsiyah's blows before breaking. Qetsiyah slightly stumbled backward in surprise as she gazed at the tall dark haired man protecting the blonde gripping his arm. That's when a marvelous idea clicked in Qetsiyah's brilliant head.

"You protect this servant girl, boy?" She rubbed her chin. "Interesting." She circled around the powerless Silas, watching him fight against the magic Qetsiyah was using to keep him still. "Silas, you are quite correct that it is not this poor servant girl's fault that you happened upon her doorstep," she said, a playful tone lacing her words as she quickly glanced at the man and Natalia, "I have a clever idea for them both." She turned back to Silas. "What will happen after I rip out your soul and hide it on the Other Side is I will make a key to its door and assign the key a capable guardian. You will never see your precious Amara again nor your soul." She laughed darkly. "It will take you a millennia to even have a memory of this conversation. You will traipse through the world looking for a pointless object you believe to be the key while it will be a living, breathing being." She shot Natalia a wicked glance and turned back to Silas. "And as I said, the key will have a guardian." She then glanced at the man protecting her newfound _key_ and she smirked at her clever plan. "May you suffer for all eternity my love." Suddenly a flash of white lifted out of Silas' chest as he screamed in agony, a smile on Qetsiyah's face. The light disappeared and Silas collapsed, lying quietly on the floor. Qetsiyah turned to Natalia and her protector. The man held up his sword with honor and bravery, watching Qetsiyah's every move. Qetsiyah smiled at this mortal's pathetic attempt to protect his one love. She could see it in his eyes that this man would die protecting this girl because of a strong and powerful love he secretly had for her.

"You two should have no worries. All you and your family bloodline's have to worry about is keeping you, the key," she pointed to Natalia, "away from Silas and your bloodlines," she said pointing to the icy-eyed protector, "shall protect this key." Qetsiyah glanced around the room and a small silver necklace caught her attention. She gathered it in her hands and her eyes turned violet as she chanted a small incantation, the necklace's chain laced through her fingers. Finishing her spell, the necklace glowed a fire red before turning back to the color of silver. She glided to Natalia and commanded she hold out her hand. "You shall wear this for a fortnight. After, your identity will be burned into your chest, as will happen to all of your bloodline that takes on this task."

"Madam, why have you chosen me?" She asked, wishing it hadn't been her and taking the necklace being handed to her.

"You shielded a horrible man from punishment. Now it is time you received yours. But not to worry. You have a man that is so enchanted with you that his love will travel down bloodline after bloodline and will continue to protect your family even after Silas is long gone. A true gift it is to have such a rare treasure." She glanced at the silent communication happening between them. She had blown the man's secret out of the water but she had a new job to attend to and didn't have time for them to realize the love on their own. "Be weary of what is to come. You will possess great power that only your guardian can help you control." She stepped closer to Natalia, gazing down at her with warning. "Being the key to the Other Side will be no slight task. Opening the door will take much out of you and can cause much chaos. Do so at your discretion but be warned. If you let Silas open the door, he will unleash hell on your kind and you will never see the light of day again. But," she said heading for the door, "if you happen to gain control of the immense power you now possess, then it is possible you can end the man that has put you in such a perilous position. Ending future problems for your children and their children. Good luck. I have a body to bury in a tomb." Qetsiyah grabbed Silas' collar and dragged him from the cottage, leaving the Guardian and the Key to stare wildly at one another.

….

Nellie gasped as she shot up of the hard wooden floors of the Mystic Grill, getting to her feet too quickly. She stumbled over tables and nearly fell as she tried to gather her senses. She felt hands reach out for her and smacked them away, turning to see Silas.

"YOU!" She yelled. "Get away from me!" Silas had a shocked look on his face.

"You see now that Qetsiyah put this curse on you!" He yelled back, following her every step.

"She was protecting humans from the likes of you, you sick son of bi," the crashing of the table flying across the room muffled the sound of her cursing. "You will "unleash hell" on our kind! You started this! You betrayed the woman you were betrothed to and she punished you for it!" Nellie could tell she was making him mad. It probably wasn't a good idea considering that she was weak from her mini-coma and blast to the past. He charged at her but was intercepted by Damon who had gotten loose from the vervain restraint. The knife Damon kept in his boot was handy in situations such as these and lucky for him, the transfer of memories weakened Silas as well. With a newfound strength, Damon grabbed Silas and gave him a good, strong head-butt to the face, making him stumble. Damon pursued him further as Nellie untied Bonnie and Matt, motioning them to the back door. Sounds of thrashing and snapping wood made Nellie turn from the doorway and stare at the beating Silas was taking. _Good…_she thought harshly. She didn't have much energy left and it looked as though neither did Damon. His adrenalin rush would come to an end soon and they would need rest before taking Silas on again. Damon would punch, Silas would fly and then he would get back up weakly only to get yet another punch. But Damon couldn't swing forever and especially not after getting his neck snapped and being in vervain soaked ropes for four hours. When Damon kicked Silas, his body slid across the floor and to Nellie's feet, coming to a stop at her brown boots. Somehow having the knowledge it would work, she leaned down and placed her palm on his forehead. A small blue pulse emitted from her palm and made Silas' lifted head crack the wooden floor beneath at impact. Silas was out. Damon's wobbling weak legs stumbled over to Nellie, who was a lot weaker than Damon. They were both in bad after-battle shape. He stopped in front of her, breathing heavy, and just stayed silent as he looked at her with concern. He had never seen her so pale and it looked as though she might faint at any moment. Nellie didn't care about boundaries at this particular moment and took it upon herself to step forward and place her forehead on his chest. She was also breathing heavy from exhaustion, legs growing weaker. A moment later she felt strong arms support her and she let her weak legs give in. Damon was holding her up into this odd but comfortable hug.

"Damon…I'm so-so glad your okay." She sighed, her arms curled up into his chest. She felt his arms tighten and felt bad that after a tough fight he had to hold her up but she had no more strength left. "What are we going to do with…" She looked over at where Damon had left Silas and all that was there was shards of glass and a broken bar table. "Oh no…" She exclaimed as her heart began to beat faster and her breathing grew heavier. She looked up at Damon, still curled into his protective grip, and she gave him a worried look. "What are we gonna' do?" She breathed. He bent down, wrapped his right arm underneath her legs and lifted her weak body off the ground, heading for the door.

"Rest up and kill this bastard once and for all."

…..

"_Madam, why have you chosen me?" She asked, wishing it hadn't been her._

"_You shielded a horrible man from punishment. Now it is time you received yours. But not to worry. You have a man that is so enchanted with you that his love will travel down bloodline after bloodline and will continue to protect your family even after Silas is long gone. A true gift it is to have such a rare treasure."_ Nellie woke in the middle of the night of the next day in her comfortable bed at the boardinghouse. She hadn't stopped dreaming about her coma-induced vision since Damon had taken her home. She only remembered bits and pieces after knocking Silas out but she did remember what it felt like to have someone she trusted be so close. In this vision, the man that protected the Nellie-look-alike was, if it wasn't already obvious, a less sarcastic and more serious version of Damon. The dark hair, the icy blue eyes, and even the body type was exactly the same. Nellie didn't know if Silas had shown Damon the vision or not but if he hadn't, she felt as though she owed it to Damon to let him know. Not being able to sleep now that she had these millions of thoughts running through her head, she lazily made her way to the kitchen only to find Damon already there, writing up his report on the Vandervort case as if today hadn't happened.

"Mind writing my report too?" She said from the doorway, hip pressed into the frame, arms crossed. He spun to look at her, closing the file.

"Couldn't sleep." He replied sleepily.

"Neither can I." She said, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat next to him at the island. "Silas' stupid vision keeps running through my head…" When Damon didn't respond, she pushed. "Did he show you it?" She questioned, rubbing her tired eyes.

"No. But he did tell me something interesting."

"Oh? What's that?"

"He said I am the guardian of the key. Does that mean you're in the clear?" He asked, hopeful that Nellie might have a normal life after all. She laughed a tired laugh, now looking him straight in the eye.

"Damon…you're my guardian." She said with a hopeful quirk in her upper lip, hoping he would catch on quick.

"What do you mean?" _Guess not…_ Nellie thought.

"Damon, you're the guardian because…I'm the key." She said weakly, giving him a shrug. "Our lives are seriously screwed up." Damon just stared for a moment and then scooted his chair closer to her. After seeing what Silas had shown her, it had opened her eyes to the small things they did to each other sometimes like sitting close together, being protective of one another, being brutally honest, enjoying each other's company. She didn't know if he felt the same way but she had a nervous feeling that something more than friendship was going on. It all stemmed from what Qetsiyah said before she gave Natalia the necklace: "a man that is so enchanted with you that his love will travel down bloodline after bloodline". _Does he feel the same way?_ She inwardly questioned. Damon finally spoke.

"_You're_ the key?"

"Yes…complication number one thousand, I know." She finished.

"Well, what does this mean?"

"Well if anyone was going to by my guardian, it makes sense that it would be you…" she laughed to herself. "Look, I should really show you what I saw." She said as she lifted her palms to his cheeks, like she had done two weeks ago at the library. So much had happened since the last time that she shared a memory with Damon. His hands came to hers, his face somewhat resting in her hands.

"Are you sure?" He asked caringly.

"Yeah, it's important you understand so we can think of what do to together. We make better attack plans that way, as you so noticed. We don't exactly do well on the spot without a previously thought out plan." Damon smiled at her comment.

"Alright, hit me with it…"

…

"So let me get this straight…Qetsiyah basically signed us up for eternal guard dog duty?" He asked, angrily sarcastic, per the usual.

"Yeah…" Nellie sighed, exhausted after using her little bit of regained energy to show Damon the vision. He noticed her sort of falling out of her chair and caught her.

"Woah! Hey now, you promised you would tell me when you were going to faint." He played. Nellie laughed, remembering the last couple of times he saved her from fainting and hitting her head too hard. He had been her guardian all along; it just took awhile to notice.

"Well, I believe I have used whatever tiny bit of energy I had left." She smiled up at him. "I'm gonna turn in now."

"Yeah me too. I should also make sure you don't faint on the stairs." He said with that sly smile. Oh Damon was charming when he wanted to be…really charming.

"I appreciate that, ha. Just remember, I'm not a porcelain doll…I don't have to be taken care of 24/7." She mentioned.

"Oh I know. You have made that very clear over the last couple of weeks." She turned to him; they had finally reached her door.

"I make things hard for you don't I?" She asked with a weak grin and a cutesy shrug. Damon huffed so loud that he probably woke Stefan up.

"Oh please! Do you even have to ask that question?" He mockingly asked, stepping a little closer to open her door for her. She girl-giggled for the first time in front of him.

"What was that?" He asked surprised. Her face began to blush a deep red and she pushed herself past him, their bodies briefly brushing together.

"Goodnight Damon." She said, beginning to shut the door.

"Goodnight." He said, a wide grin still on his face as the door fully shut. Nellie turned, her back to the door. _I FORGOT TO SAY THANK YOU!_ She remembered, opening the door back up to see Damon still standing there.

"OH, uh, I was just…" He began but she interrupted him.

"I forgot to uh, to say thank you." Her blushing cheeks getting redder by the minutes as she got on her tiptoes and placed a sweet, gentle kiss on his cold cheek. "So thank you." She smiled wide and shut the door again. Damon stood there, a hand on his cheek with surprise about how alive that little peck made him feel, electricity running through his body.

"You're welcome…"

TO BE CONTINUED….

**No secret who her favorite is anymore but I figured I should give it up sometime **** HAHA. Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter guys and please leave reviews because I really do enjoy them **


	13. Final Days

**Author's note:**** Hello again! I know it's been awhile but I was having a hard time thinking of how to put my ideas together and I finally did it! The next chapter will come easy so it will come out within a couple of days. Thanks again to those who continue to leave reviews! You are the reason that I keep writing **** Well I hope you guys enjoy! XD**

Chapter 13: Final Days

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Click.

Nellie lowered her gun after standing silently for a few minutes. Her chamber was empty and that was the last of her week's worth of practice ammo. She needed to clear her head. If someone had told her a couple of weeks ago that she would have a deadly face off with the ultimate immortal vampire and actually have a fighting chance, she would've laughed in their faces and given them a number for a therapist. After being tied up and watching her friends almost get shot, watching _Damon_ almost get shot _because of her_, she had to get away. What better way to blow of steam than to blow it off at the station's range? She put her gun on the table along with her sound proof protective headphones and breathed in and out. She had left the house without telling anyone, came to work and wrote her report for the Vandervort case, went to the shooting range, and now here she was. She felt a familiar hand on her shoulder and turned just to make sure it was who she thought it was. _Can never be too safe nowadays…_

"Hey…" Damon said, slightly panting. Nellie raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Hey, uh, why are you _panting_?" She let out a small laugh. "You don't even breathe…" Damon looked confused and then he straightened up.

"Oh…right. Guess I'm just used to faking it for the locals." He smiled. "Well I was panting because I woke up and you weren't anywhere to be found! I thought Silas got you or something!" He said, genuinely concerned.

"Sorry. I just needed some time, you know?" She sat against her shooting station, looking up at Damon's icy blue eyes. She had never realized how much taller he was than her until now; she found his height attractive among his other ridiculously charming qualities. "This is all happening so fast and I-I just…"

"Wish it never happened?" Damon asked, pulling her into a comforting hug that was not only for Nellie. He was glad he had her in a time like this because this situation was hard on everyone. Having someone loyal by your side made the process seemingly easier.

"No, I can't say that," She sighed into the nape of his neck, "If none of this happened, you wouldn't be my partner. I would still be working cases alone and I can't tell you how much I appreciate having you around sometimes." She felt Damon tense up a bit and she tried to talk down what she couldn't believe she had just admitted. "But it's not a big deal. I'm sure I would have been fine without you." Then she let out a little laugh at how pathetic her attempt to regain her cool was.

"Yeah right, cupcake." Damon played, remembering what officer Burge had condescendingly called her before she kicked his butt. She finally pulled away from their hug but instead of a depressed expression, she had a wide grin on her face.

"What did I say about calling me that?" She played back, putting her rental equipment back in lock up and leading the way through the station to Damon's car.

"You said that you don't like it." Damon stated, fishing his keys out of his pocket.

"And yet, you still call me that…One of these days, Damon…" She warned with a frisky tone.

"What?" He exaggerated, hands in the air defensively.

"One of these days I am going to find a nickname that you absolutely hate and I will use it all of the time…like…D-Man—no that's too cool. Maybe Damo (DAY-MOE)!" She giggled for the second time in front of him. She thought it was completely embarrassing but he found it adorable, something he would never own up to.

"Oh God. Do not call me that!" He demanded, swinging open the car door and hopping in. Nellie plopped into the passenger seat with a big smile on her face.

"I like it…Damo." Damon just huffed at her as he put the car in reverse. "Hey, can you drop me at Bonnie's?" She asked, receiving a questioning look from Damon.

"Uh, yeah sure. But why?" His eyebrows did their usual furrow.

"Well…I have a plan to end our little Silas problem but I need the okay from Bonnie on whether or not she can do it." Nellie could see Damon's head snap her way through her peripheral vision but she kept looking forward. There was something she was keeping to herself and if she looked him in the eye, she knew he would be able to tell.

"What? Really? Why didn't you tell me about this 'plan'?" He asked incredulously, hitting the gas to pass an old man in a Toyota.

"Well I didn't think of it that long ago and you were sleeping. But anyway, I need Bonnie's help to do it." She explained quietly. She knew he was eventually going to ask a question she didn't want to answer so she avoided it the best she could by being completely vague. Thankfully, he was pulling up to Bonnie's house so she could hop out and not have to lie.

"Thanks Damon!" She hollered, hopping out of the car and heading to Bonnie's door.

"Hey wait!" She heard Damon call from behind her. She stopped and turned, looking at her feet.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Well can't I come? I mean this is the plan that will take down _the_ Silas, I think I should be helping." He reasoned, trying to catch her gaze.

"Yeah that makes sense. Sure." She turned and walked the rest of the way to Bonnie's front door, giving the wood a light tap. When the door swung open Bonnie looked surprised.

"Hey guys! Uh, I thought just you were coming Nellie…" She explained as she motioned for them to come inside.

"Well Damon is a part of this whole Silas thing, it only makes sense he participates…" Awkward glances were exchanged between Bonnie and Nellie; they obviously did not have the same communication line that Nellie and Damon had. "I'm gonna use the restroom, be right back." Nellie excused herself and skittered off down the hallway. When Damon saw Nellie shut the door, he turned quickly to Bonnie, staring down at her with a gaze only a guardian could have.

"Alright, what the hell is going on? Nellie is the worst at keeping things from me so save me the trouble and just tell me why you guys are acting weirder than usual." He talked down to Bonnie in his most intimidating stance and voice. She walked to the living room and sat down on the couch, raking her hands through her hair.

"It's not my business to tell you if she doesn't want you to know." She finally said, taking a drink from her water bottle. Damon just gave her a look.

"If this was Jeremy we were talking about, would you want me to hold out on you?" He knew it was a low blow but it had to be done.

"Damon! That's not fair…" Bonnie said, her face now shadowed with a sad expression.

"It's almost exactly the same! She is my partner and I deserve to know!" His voice was rising in irritation. He heard a voice behind him after a series of footsteps against Bonnie's dark wood floors had come into the room.

"You're right. I should have known you would be too stubborn to just let something happen under your nose." Nellie let out a sigh and then took her place on the couch next to Damon. It was customary that they sit next to each other now because they had done it that way so many times when interrogating people in their homes.

"We have a plan that will close the Other Side and a way to make sure that Silas will be stuck there…possibly forever." Nellie's tone made Damon nervous.

"I know there is a 'but' coming…" He shifted to face her, worry plaguing his face. Nellie just stared back at him, knowing how he was going to react.

"But," Nellie began, her face showing a silent sadness, "I am probably going to die doing it."

"WHAT?!" Damon yelled, making Nellie and Bonnie jump. "If _the plan_ involves you _dying_, THEN IT ISN'T A PLAN!" He finished, steam practically coming out of his ears. Nellie grabbed his hand and he just stared at her with wide eyes. She looked down at their fingers entwining and then back up at him, a peaceful glint in her eyes.

"Damon…it's the only way." Water began to rush to her eyes and she had to look away. She had finally found a man she might want to be with and she wouldn't get to pursue it. _Jeez this sucks…I can't look at him when I'm like this…_

"No Nellie, it isn't. There has to be another way." Damon said, craning his neck for eye contact. Bonnie finally spoke.

"None of us can take down Silas with sheer force. Not anymore. He has gained too much power. The only way to take care of him for good is to lock him on the Other Side and shut the door to anything paranormal. The only way to make sure that the door is locked against him is to, metaphorically speaking, put an extra deadbolt on it and that takes A LOT of power. Power that will take a lot out of Nellie…" Bonnie trailed off, her gaze moving to the window.

"I am not letting Nellie pull a suicide mission. That defeats my whole purpose of being! Hello! I'm her freaking Guardian! I can't just let her kill herself! What would be the point of having a Guardian then?" He asked sarcastically but with anger.

"To get me this far…" Nellie said quietly. "You've done your job Damon, now let me do mine." She begged. Damon couldn't believe this. All of this work and the only way to defeat Silas was for Nellie to die. He didn't believe it. He _wouldn't_ believe it.

"Nellie, you don't get it…there is always a way. We will find it, _together_. And _then_, we will all come out of this _alive_." He reassured her, his thumb massaging her tiny hand in his. "Now, explain to me this 'plan' in detail."

….

After slipping into her camisole and shorts, Nellie brushed her teeth and put her hair into a messy ponytail. She looked like a wannabe gangster but at this point, she didn't care. Her, Damon, and Bonnie had spent four hours duking out what parts of the plan needed to be changed. For the most part, it was still the same. Play Silas and make him think that Nellie changed her mind. Then, Nellie would open the door to the Other Side and let him in, shutting it tight after. Without grabbing Nellie before stepping in, Silas won't have the key to get back. With Damon's addition to the plan, Bonnie would concoct a potion like energy drink for Nellie that would hopefully give her enough power to "deadbolt" the door and not die from the surge of power. If she was on the verge of dying, Damon's personal plan (as in, he didn't mention it to Bonnie or Nellie) was to get as much of his blood down her throat to heal her before she actually died. Nellie was stubborn when it came to healing with vampire blood but Damon didn't care. He would do whatever it took to see Nellie walk away from this alive. He wouldn't lose her. Not like this.

Nellie heard a knock at her door and instinctively turned in a combat-ready stance but her expression softened when she saw Damon.

"Knock knock…" He played, all charm with that thousand watt smile.

"Who's there?" Nellie humored him, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Oh wait, I know who it is. It's Damo." She laughed at his irritated expression. "Look, Damon, I'm sorry I didn't…"

"Don't ever keep something like that from me again." He stated simply, a flat expression on his face as he said it.

"I won't. I should've known better. I just don't want you to get hurt because of me." She sighed, crossing her arms. Damon was standing in front of her, staring down at the courageous blonde. "I want you to have a normal, happy…"

"What?" He interrupted her. "A happy life? Nellie…" He started, kneeling down to be at eye level and meeting her teary gaze. "My life hasn't been 'normal' in a long time. But I do have a happy life and it's only because you're in it." His cold palm caressed her face, his thumb brushing away a teardrop. A small smile formed on her lips.

"Look Nellie, I can't lose…" Damon was stopped short by a gentle kiss. Nellie's arms had wrapped around his neck, intending to give him one of their intimate hugs but she surprised herself by going for it. Damon didn't seem to mind as his hand left her face and slid down her back as he deepened the kiss, soaking her in. He had been with girls before but just _kissing_ her sent electricity all over his body. His protective arms tightened around her petite frame as their bodies began to press against each other, heat taking over Nellie's entire body. She was flushed; never having experienced what real kissing was like she was surprised how naturally it was coming to her. She pulled her lips away but their foreheads remained pressed together. She inhaled deeply, realizing she hadn't breathed at all while they were kissing each other.

"Wow…" She exhaled, smiling as she breathed in Damon's leather smell and melted into his arms. "I have really missed out these past couple of years." She laughed. He looked at her with a confused look as he pulled his forehead away.

"Don't tell me…was that your first kiss?" He asked dubiously.

"No!" She stated defensively. "Matt was my first kiss…in like 5th grade." Damon laughed a deep heart felt laugh.  
>"Matt? Really? Why?"<p>

"Because I thought Billy Carpenter wanted to kiss me so Matt volunteered one kiss as practice. But it never happened, so you Damon, are my second." She admitted quietly. "Just don't laugh please…" She chuckled, covering her face with her hands. He grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face, kissing the right one before letting it go.

"Billy Carpenter missed out big time." He exclaimed, eyebrows moving up and down in a cheesy way. When Nellie laughed, Damon remembered why he liked to crack jokes around her all the time. When he would finally get a real laugh out of her, it was the best sound he had ever heard.

"Alright you big lug, we have a big day tomorrow." She kissed him again, strong at first and then gentle, leaving him wanting more on purpose. "So goodnight." If she was trying to play hard to get in her own cutesy way, it was definitely working.

"Oh alright…but do I have to go?" He whined, using puppy dog eyes she hadn't seen before.

"Love the puppy eyes but yes. I am not an easy lady, mister."

"I know. Goodnight Nell." He kissed her forehead and slowly left the room. Nellie fell back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Nellie didn't want to him to go but she did need sleep. Tomorrow could be considered dooms day in a way and she wanted to be prepared so she could live on, locking the door and walking away _alive _and with Damon. She turned off her lamp, snuggled herself into her sheets and had one last thought before falling asleep.

_Enjoy your night Silas, because it will be your __**last one**__…_

TO BE CONTINUED….

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Took me awhile but I finally got passed the writer's block! Please leave reviews! **


	14. Deadbolt Debris

**Author's note:**** I know this chapter will have parts that are a bit of a stretch but I like it so get over it haha **** I will post the next chapter very soon because I am currently writing it! Thanks for all of the support, especially from NicoleR85! You have left me reviews since I started this story in October and I am so appreciative! Enjoy!**

Chapter 14: Deadbolt Debris

_Dear journal,_

_I still can't believe I'm doing this. I don't write diaries or journals. Elena recommended that I try it considering I might die today so here it is. I guess I should start with my previous day? Damon and I went to Bonnie's, fought about what the plan should be to take down Silas and then Damon and I came home. Oh and we shared the most intense kiss I have ever felt, which isn't exactly the way I should put it considering he is practically my _only_ kiss. But still, it was fantastic. Today I have to lock Silas in a closet full of ghosts called the Other Side and shut the door forever to people like him. When Bonnie says "Deadbolt", I'm not quite sure what that means exactly but she said I would know it when it comes to me. If I survive, then on Monday I go back to work. Like nothing ever happened. _

_How is everyone doing?_

_Well, Matt seems pretty good. He told me to stop keeping things from him and I have up until yesterday. Damon and I decided it would be better to keep the number of people who knew about our master plan down to three. Just because Silas can read minds and all that. Stefan and Elena are still doing well considering they are kissing practically every time you see them. I take that as a sign that they are doing well. I wonder when they come up for air? Well Stefan doesn't need to because he doesn't breathe…But that's beside the point. Bonnie is also doing really well. The Silas situation has shaken her up quite a bit but she is doing well. Damon…well he is fantastic…or he is to me anyway. And last, me, I am hoping I don't die today. I have a great job, a great…well Damon (not my boyfriend I don't think), and great friends that I really want to come back to. I am a little afraid Damon will turn me into a vampire should I be about to die and I don't know if I would be a good vampire. I don't want to drink blood and attack people but I guess it won't be my choice? Damon thinks I don't know what he is up to. I do. But regardless of the fact that I hate how he is taking the choice away from me, I still like him._

_Oh who am I kidding? I think I am in love with that handsome man._

_Hopefully this won't be the last time you hear from me,_

_Nellie Vallencia._

_PS. Damon if you read this so help me God…_

…_._

She slid in the doorway, keeping the volume down to none. Nellie was thankful that this part of the house didn't have creaky floorboards. She tiptoed a little further until she reached the dark wooden bed frame. Glancing at the clock that flashed 4:23 A.M, she reconsidered what she was doing but it was too late. Her hand was running on autopilot and she nudged the resting form. The minute her hand made contact, her arm was grabbed and she was pulled onto the bed, her hands up defensively as he was about to attack her.

"…Nellie? What…"

"It's okay Damon, it's just me!" She assured, exhaling when he put his fist down. "So you were having bad dreams too huh?"

"Yeah." He just looked down at her, his hair messily shuffled.

"I was having them too. I just didn't want to be alone. I thought I would ask if you wanted some coffee but you look tired so you should get some more rest." She had a hard time formulating sentences when the man she had intense feelings for was lying on top of her, looking like a hot mess. She was a girl who wanted to do things by _the_ book and that meant holding out for this part of the relationship.

"You're probably right." He sighed, disappointed. "But you don't look so perky either. You should really get some rest since, you know…Silas and all." He sighed, knowing he couldn't do much to help her with what she was going through.

"You're probably right." She smiled. "I will do that when you…you know, let go of me." Damon looked around in embarrassment realizing he had been holding her down the whole time they had talked. By the reddening of her cheeks, he could tell she had never been in bed with a man before.

"Oh…right…" He said, releasing her. He watched as she slid out of his bed, only in her underwear and a camisole. She turned to look at him then thought better of it and began to walk away, then turned back to him again, obviously trying to decide on something.

"Can I, uh, sleep on the floor or something? Like I said, I don't really want to be alone…" She asked shakily. She was shivering from being warm under Damon to immediately being thrust into the cold. He propped himself up on his elbow, hair still a dark, handsome mess.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor Nell…"

"Damon Salvatore!" She laughed, covering herself up a bit.

"Not like that Nellie! I won't touch you if you don't want me to, I promise." He reassured. She thought about it for a moment and gave him a nod, sliding back into his amazingly comfy bed. When she finally stopped shuffling around for a comfortable spot, they were just looking at each other and holding hands.

"Thanks." She said, shutting her eyes and inhaling the scent of his pillow.

"Anytime." Damon smiled when he saw her lip quirk up into a grin. He couldn't fall asleep quite yet so he just stared at the beauty next to him, realizing he was falling for her completely.

_I'm in trouble now…_ He thought with a smirk.

….

Damon's fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel. He felt as though he was taking Nellie to her death. After waking up next to her this morning, all he wanted to do was protect her and then to have to watch her call Silas as though she was siding with him just made it worse. Silas had located the door and he told Nellie all she had to do was open it. When she had hung up and told Damon where the door was, he was genuinely surprised he hadn't thought of it. It was the bridge where Elena and Stefan met and where Nellie and Silas had met. He should have known!

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, hoping she would change her mind. She kept looking out the window.

"Yeah. I want to end this. Now." Her voice was shaky which made them both nervous. Damon wrapped her tiny hand in his enormous hand for comfort, still looking down the road ahead.

"We will _both_ get through this. I know it." He squeezed her small hand.

"I know. You know that I more than just _like_ you right? It's more than just kissing for me…" She stated out of nowhere. Damon knew what she was doing. She was saying her goodbyes and he wouldn't have that. Although, he was happy to hear those words come from her mouth regardless of the underlying reason she was saying them.

"You better not being saying that because you think you are about to die."

"That's partly it but it's true." She explained, looking over at him. He returned her gaze and something washed over his expression; something she hadn't seen before. Suddenly he pulled the car over, got out, and opened her door. She got out and gave him a WTF-look.

"Damon what…"

"I…Nellie, I haven't ever…" He was having a hard time figuring out how to put in words what he was thinking.

"Damon we don't have to do this now if you don't want…" Nellie was resting against the 64', worried they wouldn't make it on time.

"No! I need to say this," He began, stepping closer to her, "Nellie, I think I'm in love with you. And I will be damned sure you come out of this alive so I can spend the rest of my life with you." Through her watery eyes Nellie watched Damon fish something out of his pocket. _Is he…_

"Damon what are you…" She began but he interrupted her.

"I was going to wait a while but considering we might die…" He explained, dropping to one knee, "Nellie Vallencia, I know it's too soon and we might not quite be on the same page just yet but will you make me the happiest man out there by marrying me?" Damon didn't know what she would say but he didn't want her to die without knowing that he loved her. Her hands were covering her mouth in shock as she stared at the gorgeous diamond glittering from the little black box.

"This would be a great time to say something…" He shifted nervously, hoping they wouldn't have to suffer through an awkward car ride.

"Sorry, sorry! YES! I will marry you, Damon Salvatore." She couldn't help but shake now, being so happy that he felt the love she did. It was so soon but she knew in her heart it was right. He slid the large stone on to her finger and stood up, picking her up and swinging her around. Putting her down, he crashed a passionate kiss on her lips as he tightened his arms around her. After a few moments of hardcore, desperate kissing, they pulled away, knowing they had a job to do. Silas was just up the road waiting for her arrival. With his palms still pressed to her cheeks, he made a promise.

"When we survive this, I'm going to take you somewhere nice like this little resort in Seychelles." His voice was deep and serious but he said this with a sexy and playful tone. Nellie practically melted in his arms when spoke.

"Where is that?" She asked curiously, peering into his desperate eyes.

"Africa. It's got these beautiful beaches…"

"Sounds like a plan." She gave him a passionate I'm-in-love-with-you kiss and walked away, getting into the car. Damon stood there a minute, gathering his wits and putting on his game face and then he got in the car.

….

Damon and Bonnie hid in the bushes, staying as quite as possible as they watched Nellie approach Silas. Damon turned on the super hearing and Bonnie used a spell to do the same. They saw Silas turn as Nellie got close, a large, evil grin on his face.

"Nellie, it's good to see you." He said, excitement running through his veins. Today was the day he would get his soul back. Nellie faked a friendly smile as she finished her approach.

"Same to you. And, uh, Silas, thank you for warning me about Qetsiyah. You were right and I should have just listened to you…" He stopped her short, putting a hand on her shoulder (Damon almost blew his cover to rip his hand off).

"You're young and naïve but we are here now," he said wrapping an arm around her shoulder and walking her to where the door would appear, "let's open this door and move on from the lies and betrayal. We can start a new life." He suggested happily. Nellie nodded, trying really hard to keep the smile on her face.

"You may want to back away just a bit. I don't want to hurt you." She was upset because she was speaking the opposite of her mind. Thankfully, Silas couldn't read her mind or the plan would already be a bust. He took a couple of careful steps back, moving away from the possible blast. Nellie did as Bonnie had instructed. She knelt down, placing her palm against the wooden planks on the bridge and began a small chant that was to be repeated three times: "Ego aperire ostium salui, Ego aperire ostium salui, Ego aperire ostium salui (I will the door open for safe passage).

After several moments, Nellie felt an intense heat radiate from her palm and the earth began shudder beneath. The wind picked up and the sky grew dark with clouds as a gentle rain began to fall from the heavens. As Nellie rose from the ground, an opening grew from the ground to the top of her hand in the shape of a rectangular doorway. The opening glowed a foggy white color and Silas looked through, awe plaguing his face. Damon and Bonnie took their moment of opportunity. Leaving the bushes as Silas began to walk through the door, they got as close as they could without being seen. When Silas' second foot was inside the doorway, Nellie shot her hand back down to the ground, shutting the door. Before she could begin the spell for the deadbolt, she felt Silas fighting from the Other Side. Damon and Bonnie came running when they saw her struggle to keep her hand locked to the ground. Reaching her, Damon and Bonnie focused all of their strength on the glowing patch of light on the ground, holding it down so Nellie could conjure up the deadbolt. Nellie thought their call to her ancestors was slightly corney but it would do the trick regardless.

"Testor posteros Qetsiyah eam cohibere," (I call on the descendants of Qetsiyah) Nellie could feel her power booting up for the final lock, "clauditis stricta et ne subjicias manus..." (lock it down, lock it tight, keep it closed with all your might) She began to see a square shaped lock appear as her power drained from ever corner of her body, knowing the last part of the spell would take the rest of her power, "tua in aeternum" (for all eternity). A massive blast of blue energy ignited from her palm, her back arching to control the surge. The electricity-like energy formed an orb around Nellie and the door, sucking the life from her as it sealed the Other Side shut. Damon and Bonnie were tossed all the way back to the parking lot, landing hard on the cement pavement. Eyes and palms growing electric blue, Nellie fought Silas' attempt to push from the Other Side as she gave the door one final wave of energy. When her second palm smashed against the wood an immense shock wave of the rest of Nellie's power clasped the lock shut, causing the door to finally lock forever and disappear. Nellie's limp body collapsed against the creaky wood, her consciousness leaving her.

...

Damon picked his sore body up off the pavement. He was already healing but Bonnie was bleeding out everywhere. The ambulance was sure to be here after hearing the sounds of the blasts, he was sure of it. Damon bit his wrist and let a decent amount of his blood splash against her lips before letting himself heal. She had already started healing by the time Damon had gotten to his feet. Without regaining all the senses quite yet, he stumbled in Nellie's direction, waiting for the huge dent in his ribs from landing on the curb to fill in. Kicking past leaves and stepping over fallen trees trunks and limbs, his pace began to quicken as he healed. When he was finally able to run at vampire speed, he flashed next to Nellie's side, checking for a pulse. _Nothing._ He tried CPR and then replaced his fingers to her neck. _Nothing._ He had no other choice but resort to his blood. He bit into his wrist, letting more than enough of his blood spill down her throat. After his wrist healed he watched, seeing a gash that a flying piece of wood made lessen in blood loss and he replaced his fingers on her neck. If he were human he wouldn't have been able to feel her faint pulse because it was almost nonexsistant but he felt a microscopic pump of blood and that was all he needed. He lifted her into his arms and at vampire speed, returned to Bonnie's body, which was being lifted into the ambulance. Damon ran normal speed the rest of the way, to avoid the explanation that he was vampire, and reluctantly handed Nellie's limp body over to the paramedic.  
>"What happened here sir?" The paramedic asked, strapping Nellie to a gurney. The paramedic was unsure why all the trees of the surrounding area were uprooted and smoking. Any normal person would have asked that very question. Damon wasn't even fully sure himself and he was there when the explosion took place.<p>

"An old land mine blew and they were too close. I got to her first," he said pointing to Bonnie, "which is why she was just laying there when you got here." The paramedic nodded and signaled for the first ambulance to drive away, as Bonnie was already strapped down safely inside.

"I'm going with this one." Damon ordered, a stubborn knit to his brow.

"Sir are you family?" He asked, hopping into the ambulance.

"Fiance." The paramedic's face washed over with a sad realization that this man had to carry his to-be wife's body through the forest and keep a level head doing it. He waited for Damon to climb in and then shut the door, speeding off toward the hospital.

**Hope you guys enjoyed! I have one more chapter to post and then the story will officially be finished **** PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS!**


	15. Epilogue

**Author's note:**** Hey guys! This chapter has a lot of big stretches in it but I don't care! I love it anyway! I hope you do too! I finished it quicker than I had expected so here it is **** The end to their epic saga! Leave reviews and enjoy **

Chapter 15: Epilogue

Elena carried the auburn colored leather duffle through the hospital hallways, happy to have something for Nellie as a present for her recent engagement. She never thought Damon would settle down but if it were to be with anyone, it made sense that it was Nellie. Coming to room 206, she gave the door a little tap and pushed it open. Damon had gone to the cafeteria to get Nellie something other than Jell-O knowing that she wouldn't appreciate the crappy food. Elena walked over to the side of her bed, giving Nellie's hand an affectionate tap. Matt watched from the hospital window, praying for Nellie to wake up soon.

"Hey Nellie. I don't know if you can here me or not but Damon told me your news. I am so happy for the both of you." She began to sniffle. "I'm glad it was you that he chose. He needs you. You bring out the best in him. I figured that when you wake up, you will want to leave town right away, you know, elope and all of that. So, I thought I would give you a wedding present early." Elena's voice was rising in pitch as her excitement grew. "I will also leave a note in case you can't hear me." She laughed. " I got you this ridiculously cute duffle from Coach. Expensive, I know, but I figured you need a good bag for travel. I filled your gorgeous bag with a few honeymoon outfits that you will look just great in _and_ this," Elena held up a purple bikini set with gold swirl accents and adorable shimmering gems, "Damon mentioned a beach excursion for your honeymoon so I just couldn't help myself when I saw this!" Elena smiled and sighed as she put the bikini in the duffle and zipped it shut. Elena looked up at Nellie's emotionless face. "You are going to be so great for him, Nellie…and I can't wait for you to be part of our little family. Having another girl running around that boardinghouse has been great and I am so glad that you will be there permanently. Get well soon." Elena sat forward and gave Nellie a careful hug. After holding there a few moments, Elena backed away and grabbed her stuff, leaving the duffle with the note attached.

"Elena…" A weak voice came from behind her and her head snapped towards Nellie, watching her eyes flutter open. Elena nearly started jumping up and down.

"MATT! Get in here!" She yelled, running back to Nellie's side. Elena gave her a suffocating hug.

"Elena…"

"Yeah?"

"I can't breathe…" She wheezed. Elena immediately pulled back with a small grin.

"Oh, sorry." She gave a small I'm-sorry-shrug.

"It's okay really! Thanks for the duffle…" Nellie smiled, thankful for the gift.

"You heard me?" Nellie nodded. "Between you and me, this lingerie will make him go crazy…I can guarantee it." They each laughed and then heard Matt's rapid steps.

"Nellie?" He semi-yelled.

"I'm okay Matt." She laughed as he too gave her a suffocating hug. "I'm so mad at you for not telling me about your suicide mission but I'm so happy you're alive! Don't ever do anything like that again!"

"I won't! I promise…wait…are you saying it worked? Is he gone?" Hope rose up in Nellie and she fought against the pain to sit up. Matt helped her up the rest of the way.

"Yeah! Damon said…"

"Where's Damon?" Nellie was so glad he was alive. She looked down at her ring finger to see the diamond was still there and she smiled a little as she took in the idea of being 'Mrs. Salvatore'.

"He's in the cafeteria getting you better food then what they are serving you up here." Nellie laughed at his explanation. Matt was so blunt sometimes and she loved that about him.

"Oh. Okay. Is Bonnie okay?"

"Yeah! She left yesterday because she wasn't as beat up as you." Elena explained, handing her a mirror. Nellie looked at her reflection and gawked. She looked like a semi truck had hit her! She had a gash above her right eye (most likely from the flying shards of wood), the left side of her face had purple and blue bruises (collapsing and hitting her face hard on the wooden boards) and a busted lip (again, flying wood, which is more dangerous than most would expect).

"Jesus…It looks like I got hit by a charging Rhino…" She gasped, wincing as she lightly touched her bruises.

"We wanted you to wake up before giving you more of Damon's…um, you know, but now that you are awake, I would be happy to heal you if you want." Elena offered.

"No that's alright. I will be okay. But thank you, really." Nellie handed her the mirror. " I would like some jeans and a tee if you have any extra?" Matt handed her one of his varsity football duffle bags with a week's worth of her cutest clothes (courtesy of Elena who picked each pair) in it.

"Elena picked out the outfits and packed everything for you." Matt smiled. Elena just grinned some more, if that was even possible.

"Thank you so much Elena! You are seriously the best. But I only needed one outfit to go home in, why did you pack so many?" Nellie asked curiously as she peered in the bag.

"Because," she heard from the doorway, "we are leaving as soon as you get dressed." Damon came into the room, dropping a cafeteria bag on the visitor's chair. He came to her side and pulled her into a much-needed hug.

"I'm so glad you're awake." He spoke into the nape of her neck. They continued to hold onto one another, never wanting to let go.

"Me too." She sniffled, growing a little too emotional for her tastes. Elena motioned Matt out of the room and followed him, giving Nellie and Damon their privacy. They were still hugging minutes later, not saying anything.

"Nellie, I love you. I don't know what I would've done without you bossing me around all the time…" He lessened the seriousness with a joke and Nellie just chuckled, wincing at the pain in her ribs.

"Oh Damon, don't' make me laugh because it hurts…" She began to laugh a little harder. He pulled away, gave her a sympathetic look and bit his wrist.

"Here. Just a little more to heal up the last little bit of bruises. You are alive and breathing so no chance of becoming a vampire or anything, I promise." He reassured and she glanced at his wrist and then him.

"Okay. I trust you." He slid in behind her and wrapped his arm around so she could drink and heal. She wrapped her hands around his arm and then put her mouth to where he bit himself, taking gulps of his blood until he told her to stop. She didn't like the taste all that much but it did do miracles for humans so she wasn't going to argue. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and stopped, wiping her mouth with her arm. When she turned to look at him, her sides didn't hurt anymore and she smiled.

"That is so amazing…" She looked at her face in the hand mirror. "Wow…"

"My fiancé is beautiful isn't she?" Damon asked, running a hand through her hair. She put down the mirror and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You're not so bad yourself Mr. Salvatore." She played, placing a kiss on his neck. Damon's whole body lit on fire as if her kiss made him human again. Just the mere touches of her soft lips made him want more.

"Woah! Mrs. Salvatore!" He played back. They both started laughing pretty hard. Ignoring him, she kept kissing his neck and nibbling a little on his ear lobe. She felt his body tense.

"What? You don't like when I kiss you, Mr. Salvatore?" She said friskily.

"Uh yeah, I like it a little too much if you know what I mean?" She backed away as she burst out laughing.

"Think that's funny do you?" She nodded in response. "Well get dressed already. I have the most amazing trip planned so vamoose!" She gave him a lovingly peck on the lips and grabbed the bag Matt had brought her.

"Seychelles? Are we going to that beach resort you were talking about?" She asked excitedly, trotting towards the bathroom and shutting the door.

"Yes…no more questions though because some of it is a surprise."

"When did you have time to plan this?" She asked, yelling through the wooden door.

"You were out for like three days. I had plenty of time and the staff gave me a laptop to use. They also let me print out the tickets." He explained, gathering up all of her stuff.

"Wait…you stayed here for three days to watch me sleep?" She asked, completely touched. Her fiancé was the best and she couldn't love him more than she already did.

"Yeah. I didn't feel comfortable leaving you here. Plus, they have free wi-fi here. You ready yet?" He asked. "Need some help or something?" Just then, Nellie opened the door and walked out in a beautiful white sundress that had coral flowers on it. The dress had spaghetti straps to show off her shoulders (which were toned from boxing) and cut off just before her knees to show off her beautifully toned legs. Damon looked her up and down.

"Whattya think?" She twirled.

"Yo-you look…" He began stuttering and she beamed.

"Damon Salvatore speechless? The world has come to an end for sure." She played, placing her hands on his chest as she rose onto her tiptoes to give him another loving kiss. "So I'm ready," she said, pulling away and grabbing the duffle Elena gave to her, "can we go? This trip sounds amazing."

"Yes. After you Mrs. Salvatore."

"You know, I'm not technically Mrs. Salvatore yet. You have yet to watch me walk down the aisle…"

"Did I tell you we were eloping? You will be Mrs. Salvatore in…" he looked at his black leather watch, "eleven hours, forty-two minutes, and four seconds. That is if you still want to marry me…I know I asked you when we were in a bit of a pinch but…" he was cut off.

"Damon! Of course I do! I would marry you here if I had to…" She reassured him, finally getting to see the real smile she had been anticipating ever since she met him. He opened the car door for her and threw her bags in the back once she was in. Hopping into the driver's seat, he revved up the engine and the 64' lurched forward.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

**For all of those who were rooting for Silas, I'm sorry. I just loved Damon and Nellie's relationship way too much! I know the ending is a bit of stretch but I like happy endings **** Leave reviews and let me know what you think!**


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